*This article is the content of the 19th issue of "Half Moon Talk" in 2024
For more than 40 years, Liaoning Xingcheng swimwear industry has experienced a butterfly change process from scratch and from small to large, and has become a sample of the county economy of reform and opening up. Banyuetan reporters visited a number of swimwear companies in Xingcheng and found that Xingcheng swimsuit people made a "big business" with "one foot of cloth", and the annual output value of the swimwear industry reached 15 billion yuan, accounting for more than 25% of the international market share. Taking advantage of the east wind of "film and television + cultural tourism", Xingcheng is actively promoting the intelligent, fashionable, branded and intensive development of the swimwear industry, so that the tens of billions of industries can once again "ride the wind and waves".
More than 40 years to build a swimwear industry cluster
The swimwear industry in Xingcheng began in the 80s of the 20th century, and tourists who came to the seaside for vacation made the swimwear industry rise in Xingcheng. Banyuetan reporter visited and found that Xingcheng's swimwear industry started from private workshops and went through the development stages of basket sales, traditional foreign trade, and e-commerce sales.
At present, there are 1,300 swimwear enterprises in Xingcheng, with an average annual output of about 170 million pieces (sets), accounting for more than 40% of the domestic market share. Today, a third of the people in this small city of less than 500,000 work in swimwear.
Walking into Xingcheng Haocheng Garment Co., Ltd., the colorful swimsuits are eye-catching. Tian Shu, the general manager, tapped on the computer keyboard, and as the order was placed, each piece of swimwear was about to be sent to customers around the world through cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Shein.
"At present, the export business of enterprises accounts for more than 90%, and in the last Canton Fair, I reached a cooperation with Boohoo, a local e-commerce company in the United Kingdom. In addition to traditional foreign trade channels, the booming cross-border e-commerce in recent years has brought us new business opportunities. Tian Shu said.
Tian Shu is the "third generation of swimming" in the family. Tian Shu said that Su Guizhen, an 88-year-old grandmother, was one of the first swimwear people in Xingcheng, "At that time, my grandmother made swimwear on a sewing machine at home and sold backpacks and carts. In my parents' generation, the family set up a small factory, and my aunt went to the wholesale market with a big bag to find customers, and also worked as an OEM for large enterprises."
In the workshop of Huludao Starway Group, workers are producing swimsuits Photo by Yang Qing
Nowadays, the scale of Xingcheng swimwear industry continues to expand, the degree of marketization is gradually deepened, and e-commerce has sold small city swimwear from the coast of the Bohai Sea to the world. Experiencing the tide of the Internet, Xingcheng Swimwear ushered in a new wave of industrial transformation and iteration. On the streets of Xingcheng, the transport vehicles of express companies such as Federal Express and UPS can be seen everywhere.
The swimwear industry has a strong ability to absorb employment and effectively drive the income of low-income people. In Xingcheng Zhuoyimei Garment Factory, workers are working overtime to produce. Liu Zhuo, the general manager, said that there are more than 260 processing and cutting workers, and the workers are generally paid by piecework, with a monthly salary of 8,000 yuan to 10,000 yuan.
Guo Feng, general manager of Parktech Junda Garment Factory, said that the factory was deliberately located at the intersection of urban and rural areas to attract more farmers. The local area actively guides swimwear enterprises to go to the countryside, and more than half of the 237 administrative villages in Xingcheng have built swimwear processing factories or workshops.
"Film and television + cultural tourism" helps the swimwear industry out of the circle
"A drama brings fire to a city". In April this year, with the hit of the TV series "Riding the Wind and Waves" with the background of Xingcheng swimsuit people's entrepreneurship, the popularity of the local swimwear industry has become higher, and the ancient city of Xingcheng, as a filming location, has also ushered in wave after wave of visits.
The "Jinxi Swimsuit Processing Factory" founded by the protagonist Peng Jinxi is located in a street in the ancient city of Xingcheng. Not only that, the "supply and marketing cooperatives" in the play, the ancient city wall of Xingcheng, etc., have become popular check-in places, and "Peng Jin Xijia" has been converted into a homestay. The local area also combined the plot and opened a special tourist line.
Xu Zhengchao, the screenwriter of "Riding the Wind and Waves", believes that the combination of the filming scenes of film and television dramas and the historical and cultural heritage of the ancient city has brewed a new cultural tourism growth point, which not only brought the ancient city of Xingcheng to the "spotlight", but also made the swimsuit industry in Xingcheng popular, letting people know that Liaoning has a "swimsuit capital".
Employees of a swimwear company in Xingcheng sell swimsuits in a live broadcast Photo by Yang Qing
Banyuetan reporter walked into Xingcheng Swimwear Fashion Industrial Park and saw many tourists visiting here. Commentator Sun Yutong said: "After the TV series was broadcast, the popularity of Xingcheng's swimwear industry has increased, not only more tourists have come to visit us, but also many customers have come to place orders and discuss business. According to statistics, one month after the broadcast of "Riding the Wind and Waves", the number of orders and online and offline sales of Xingcheng swimwear increased by about 20%.
"In the next step, we must strive to turn 'flow' into 'retention', give full play to the 'long-tail effect' brought by film and television + cultural tourism, actively promote the intelligent, fashionable, branded and intensive development of Xingcheng's swimwear industry, accelerate the transition of the traditional swimwear industry to a modern industrial system, and make the integration of industry and city present a new atmosphere and pattern." Wei Dongsheng, Secretary of the Party Group of Xingcheng Industry and Information Technology Bureau, said.
Seize the industrial outlet and actively seek transformation
At present, with the slowdown of global economic growth, many industries have reached a new juncture of adjustment and transformation, and many swimwear companies in Xingcheng are also actively seeking transformation, impacting market segments, cultivating more brands, and seizing the industrial outlet.
——High-end breakthrough and impact market segments. Wei Dongsheng believes that high-end transformation is the only way for the industry to break through, "for Xingcheng swimwear, only by improving the added value of products and occupying the high-end market can we improve the core competitiveness of the industry." The "Fan De'an" brand created by Xingcheng Yinghua Swimming Garment Co., Ltd. is a representative of the local high-end transformation. Wang Na, chairman of the company, said that the company has registered the "Van der An" trademark in many places around the world, and has been on a par with international brands in terms of fabrics, design and manufacturing.
——Gather brands through exhibitions to promote the integration of culture, sports and tourism. The 2024 Northeast Asia (Xingcheng) International Swimwear Expo will be held in Xingcheng in July. Since its inception in 2011, Xingcheng Swimming Expo has gone through 14 years. "The swim expo has raised the international profile of swimwear and the city." Liu Xiaodong, deputy mayor of Huludao City, said that at present, there are 1,325 registered trademarks of Xingcheng swimwear, and the regional brand value of Xingcheng swimwear has reached 6.707 billion yuan. Zhang Dongyuan, president of Xingcheng Swimwear Industry Association, said: "Although Xingcheng produces swimwear, it has never held a large-scale swimming event, and the next step can be to try to hold more events and exhibitions to achieve the deep integration of culture, sports and tourism." ”
——Demand production capacity from science and technology to seize a new round of industrial outlets. In the production workshop of the Zhuo Yimei garment factory, automatic cutting machines have replaced manual cutting. "Digital and intelligent transformation has improved production capacity, and enterprises dare to take large orders." Liu Zhuo said. At present, the trend of intelligent transformation of Xingcheng swimwear industry is obvious, and advanced equipment such as automatic spreading machines, automatic cutting machines, and automatic printing machines are widely used, and some enterprises have also realized the full life cycle management of swimwear.
Half Moon Talk Reporter: Xu Yang, Yu Yetong, Hong Kerun
Original title: "Xingcheng swimsuit is out of the circle like this"
Source: Half Moon Talk