Chinese Shoe Makers Target Ethiopia

P, vice president of Huajian and HelenHai, who is responsible for the Ethiopia plant of the company, said that the gradual appreciation of a href= "//www.sjfzxm.com/business/" and the rising labor cost are squeezing profit margins, forcing many Chinese shoe enterprises to consider adopting similar measures.

However, most of them set up factories in Asian countries closer to home.

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< p > "30 years ago, Chinese people did not know how to make shoes for the international market."

Hai Yu said, "Taiwanese and Hongkong people come to the mainland because the cost of making shoes in mainland China was 20% lower than that in Taiwan 30 years ago."

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P > Hua Jian makes women's shoes for TommyHilfiger, Guess, Naturaliser, Clarks and other Western brands. It has 25 thousand employees in mainland China and is one of the first Chinese manufacturers to set up large-scale production operations in Africa.

In more than a year, the company has employed 1750 employees in the suburb of Addisababa, capital of Ethiopia.

Now, Huajian is planning to expand itself to the field of injection shoes.

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When p, the then Prime Minister of Ethiopia, died in late 2012 at the end of 2011, when MelesZenawi, who died in 2012, introduced the situation to Chinese manufacturers, it was relatively easy to make the decision from the cost point of view, which is a great leap forward from a cultural perspective.

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"P," she said, "from the local situation, the labor force is very competitive, and the cost of electricity is only half that of China.

In terms of shoemaking business, Ethiopia has another advantage: the sheepskin and goat skin supply here are huge. "

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< p > however, the biggest incentive is that Ethiopia's products entering the European and American markets enjoy preferential tariffs.

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However, P's ambition in Africa is still an unusual way.

Today, African officials are increasingly concerned about the industrialization of the region as China's role in Africa grows stronger, and the influx of cheap imports into Africa.

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< p > last year, < a href= "//www.sjfzxm.com/news/index_cj.asp" > Sino African Trade < /a > exceeded US $200 billion, which is 20 times that of 2000 (that year the Chinese government promised to introduce policies to accelerate Sino African Cooperation).

But in the boom of Sino African relations, manufacturing in Africa is on the decline.

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In the eyes of hay woo, Ethiopia's industrialization path has been similar to that of China 30 years ago. < p >

In those days, hay and his father came to Beijing for the first time.

When two people want to stay in a hotel, they find they can't afford to stay.

Hai Yu said, "at the moment when I left the hotel, I was thinking that there was a world that did not belong to me; however, my life had changed dramatically."

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"P" Hai Yu completed his scholarship in England, grew up to be a professional actuary, and became an employee of Zurich insurance group, then joined the manufacturing industry.

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< p > she believes that Ethiopia, which already owns the a href= "//www.sjfzxm.com/business/" and the local shoe making industry < /a >, may become a global shoe center, providing products for the markets in Africa, Europe and the United States.

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"P," she said, "when you have thousands of shoe factories, you will have thousands of suppliers supplying all kinds of raw materials.

By then, you will have economies of scale, and you will see the cost slipping. "

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< p > Hai Yu said that at present, some of the biggest operational obstacles are high logistics and pportation costs and the need to import many raw materials.

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< p > she added that Chinese enterprises in Africa had some disadvantages in some aspects, and she mentioned language and other cultural barriers.

On the other hand, she said, one of the advantages of these enterprises is their willingness to enter unknown areas.

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< p > Hai Yu said: "there is a big difference between entrepreneurs in China and Europe.

When European entrepreneurs see a tiger, they first study its characteristics and find out how to subdue it.

They will carry out various feasibility studies before taking any action.

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< p > "Chinese Entrepreneurs...

Seeing the tiger will jump to the tiger's back and then think, "OK, what should I do next?" this is the mentality that helped China achieve such rapid growth in the past 20 years.

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