Webinar Held for Promotion of Ethiopian Finished Leather Products
On August 25, 2022, a promotion webinar for Ethiopian finished leather was hosted by the Ethiopian Embassy in China and Psearcher. Representatives from the Ethiopian Ministry of Trade and Regional Cooperation, Ethiopian Leather Association, Ethiopian Leather Research Institute, China Leather Industry Association, China Leather Shoe Research Institute, and some Chinese and Ethiopian leather industry enterprises were invited to attend the meeting.
Li Yuzhong, Vice president of China national council of Light Industry and chairman of China Leather Industry Association, delivered a speech at the meeting, Li briefed the current situation of China's leather industry and the import of leather products from Ethiopia. In 2021, the impact of COVID-19 reduced, and the market continues to recover at home and abroad, particularly in China's leather industry which has reported a high growth of 32.7% in its export and achieved exported value of US$90.33 billion. The total import value of the industry in 2021 was $19.69 billion, up 29.2 percent year on year, setting a record high of rising.
Li pointed out China's imports of Ethiopian leather and its products were worth about $15 million in 2021, down 9.8percent from a year earlier, the import of finished leather accounts for $13.5 million of totaled import value, and fewer leather goods are imported from Ethiopia. Li said Ethiopia has a huge opportunity to develop in the Chinese market because it has a large number of livestock and a rich resource of raw hides and skins. Furthermore, 97 percent of Ethiopian items exported to China enjoy zero tariffs, which provides huge space for Ethiopia to sell leather goods to China.
On the topic of increasing the export of Ethiopian leather products to China, Li made his proposal and hopes the Ethiopian government to provide support policy to Chinese enterprises investing in leather and shoe making in Ethiopia. Li stressed with the increase in per capita income in China, there is a growing demand for medium and high-end products in China. Ethiopian leather enterprises should strengthen exchanges with Chinese counterparts for knowing more Chinese market so as to increase exports to China, and achieve win-win cooperation between the two sides.
Representatives from the state Minister of Trade and Regional Integration of Ethiopia, the Ethiopian Ambassador to China, the Director of the Ethiopian Leather Institute, and the Chairman of the Ethiopian Leather Industry Association made their speeches and introduced the current situation of leather production and export in Ethiopia, related policies for supporting leather industry on development, trade, and investment, as well as the overall market prospect of the leather industry.
Source: chinaleather.org
https://www.chinaleather.org/front/article/123580/366