China's printing and dyeing industry had a good performance at the beginning of 2021. Based on the lower base of the previous year, various indicators of economic operations in January-February 2021 have gone through the roof.

1. Production has rebounded significantly, and the scale of production has exceeded the level of the same period before the epidemic

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, printing and dyeing enterprises above designated size produced about 6.77 billion meters of printed and dyed fabric, seeing year-on-year rises of 37.20%. The reasons for the good production performance in January-February 2021 are as follows. Firstly, many Chinese people opted to stay put during the Spring Festival holiday this year in response to the government's call to avoid unnecessary gatherings as part of anti-epidemic measures. Therefore, enterprises resumed normal operations in a fast manner. Secondly, the demand in foreign markets has increased significantly. From January to February 2021, China's textile and apparel exports ballooned by over 50% year-on-year. The increase in terminal consumption has driven rapid growth in the production of upstream printing and dyeing enterprises.

2. Operational quality and efficiency is recovering, but it has not yet back to normal

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, from January to February 2021, the share of three overheads in turnover of printing and dyeing enterprises above designated size was 8.60%, down 0.69 percentage point year-on-year. Among them, that of cotton printing and dyeing enterprises reached 8.21%; chemical fiber printing and dyeing enterprises, 11.31%. The turnover rate of finished products was 2.54 times / year, seeing a year-on-year increase of 20.78%. The turnover of account receivable was 1.23 times / year, up by 19.00% year-on-year. And the total asset turnover was 0.13 times / year, up 24.92% year-on-year. Compared with the same period in 2019, the share of three overheads in turnover for enterprises in January-February 2021 increased by 0.28 percentage point. The turnover rate of finished products was decreased by 17.11%; the turnover rate of accounts receivable declined by 24.71%; and the total asset turnover decreased by 13.76% year-on-year.

From January to February 2021, the main business income of printing and dyeing enterprises above designated size reached more than CNY 33.22 billion, seeing a year-on-year rise of 33.51%. Their main business cost was about CNY 29.3 billion, up by 31.87% year-on-year, accounting for 88.18% of the main business income. The profit totaled CNY 533 million, surged by 2092.76% year-on-year. The cost and expense margin were 1.66%, increased by 1.77 percentage points year-on-year. The sales profit margin was 1.60%, up by 1.71 percentage points year-on-year. The completed export delivery value reached more than CNY 5.08 billion, increased by 16.21% year-on-year.

39.39% of enterprises operated in red, and their deficit totaled CNY 799 million, down 24.57% year-on-year.

The above analysis shows that the economic operation of China's printing and dyeing industry showed a recovery growth from January to February. Its main operating indicators have rebounded significantly, but the overall level has not yet back to normal before the epidemic.

3. Exports achieved recovery growth, and the exports exceeded the level of the same period in 2019

According to China Customs HS 8-digit statistics, the export volume of the eight major categories of printing and dyeing products from January to February 2021 reached 4.67 billion meters, up by 41.54% year-on-year; the export value was over US$ 4.5 billion, seeing a year-on-year increase of 34.79%; the average export unit price was US$ 0.96 per meter, down 4.77% year-on-year. While the export volume and export value of the eight major categories of printing and dyeing products have achieved rapid growth, the average export unit price has fallen, reflecting that the competitive pressure in the export market is still relatively high.

On the whole, the operation of China's printing and dyeing industry showed a recovery growth in the first two months of 2021, and various economic operation indicators have increased substantially, indicating that domestic and foreign market demand has improved in the context of the slow recovery of the global economy. But it is worth to noticing that the growth in the first several months was based on the lower base of the previous year, and the main operating indicators have not yet returned to the level before the epidemic. It is expected that the printing and dyeing industry will continue to recover throughout the year. But the growth rate of various indicators will gradually return to normal levels.