2011 ANNUAL PREVIEW: Trade Agreements Will Drive Growth in Taiwan

By Alex Hsu|January 27, 2011

This year, prices have risen to levels not seen in more than a century. To a large extent, China has fueled this rise with an insatiable demand for imported cotton and textile products. Its resurgence after the financial crisis has given Taiwan’s textile industry a much-needed boost, which combined with recent political breakthroughs, shows Taiwan has a bright future.

Major geopolitical policies are removing most of the barriers to regional trade. The ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) went into full effect at the beginning of 2010, making trade between China and the ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries even more fluid than before.

With its domestic retail demand growing rapidly as it emerges from the financial crisis, China is becoming more significant as a retail buyer rather than just a value-added garment manufacturer for the West. Its development as a retail consumer has far-reaching implications for Asian countries.

You can read the rest of this article and dozens of others when the 2011 Cotton International Annual Edition is published. Be sure to watch for it in your mailbox!