Glen Dimplex will almost double the value of components that it sources from China to $300 million by 2007 to cut the cost of manufacturing products. It also signalled yesterday that it planned to move more jobs to China to take advantage of the massive expansion of the world’s fastest growing economy.
Mr. Sean O’Driscoll, chief executive, said the firm now viewed Eastern Europe as only a staging post on the way to moving more low cost jobs to China in the future. Mr. O’Driscoll said that China is currently changing the rules of business and was creating relentless price deflation and competition for many goods. “Consumers don’t care where a product is manufactured, and as long as it is good quality and at the right price point …. so firms need to view China as a massive opportunity. He said that more firms should consider outsourcing their manufacturing to China.

The prospect of Chinese domination looms large over the US$350 billion global textile and garment trades as manufacturers brace for an upheaval in export shipments that will end decades of preferential access to Western markets.

Driven by a huge pool of cheap labour and a flood of foreign investment, factories in China already supply 30% of the world clothing demand and 22% of textiles. They could double this share once the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) is phased out in January 2005.

Some 80% of textile production will shift to China, costing other countries $200 billion in exports and 30 million jobs in developing and industrialized countries, according to the US-based National Council of Textile Organizations.

Might is bite in trade negotiations, and the stronger suppliers such as China and India should come out on top after deregulation.
Other Asian countries such as Bangladesh, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Cambodia have much the same labour-cost advantages, but either face higher raw-material charges, have inadequate infrastructure or cannot match Chinese productivity levels. Production costs are 50% higher in the Philippines and 20-40% higher elsewhere.
A recent WTO study predicted that China and India would both gain bigger market shares in the EU, the US and Canada, with the Chinese controlling 50% of the global market. The World Bank issued the same projection.

The gains from free trade will far exceed the pain.

The textiles industry faces sweeping restructuring as production shifts from countries where it has survived only because of quotas to more competitive suppliers elsewhere, above all China.
Vulnerable producers are already pressing for other forms of protection once quotas end. But they seem unlikely to prevent China’s eventual domination of much of the industry.

Overall, liberalisation will benefit the global economy. Western consumers will pay less for clothing and footwear. Opening markets only creates opportunities.

China, rather than the new accession countries, is the most likely location for future manufacturing activity, according to a survey from Deloitte.
The survey was issued on the eve of the first visit to Ireland by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao that aims to strengthen business relationships between Ireland and China.
David Hearn, consulting partner in Deloitte stated, “Against the general expectation, China is an even bigger competitor for manufacturing jobs that the new EU accession countries of Eastern Europe. Some 31pc of western European manufacturers say they will locate or expand factories in China as opposed to 27pc for eastern Europe”.

China is willing to further trade ties with Ireland and welcomes Irish enterprises to participate in Chinese economic progress, said Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai.

Bo told visiting Irish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Harney that Sino-Irish trade developed very quickly, recording a 2.34 billion US dollars trade volume last year, up 60.5 percent year-on-year, one of the highest growths in China"s European Union trade partners.

Sino-Irish trade has huge potential, Bo said. Ireland is cutting-edge in many aspects such as education and software and China will enhance cooperation in those sectors.

China witnessed huge success in economic development and Ireland is very interested in expanding trade with China, said the Irish official.

The Irish government encourages enterprises to invest in China and do business with their Chinese partners. China’s accession to the World Trade Organization also benefited the Irish business circle, Harney said.

Bo urged the European Union to grant China the full market economy status to facilitate Sino-EU trade and Harney said that as it holds the EU presidency in the first half of this year, Ireland will actively promote solving the issue at an early date.

The G7 meeting next weekend is likely to be dominated by concerns over recent foreign exchange developments, with particular focus on the quasi fixed rate regime between the USD and major Asian currencies, especially the Chinese yuan. A revaluation of the yuan would be a welcome development for both the US and Europe, and it is possible that the G7 communique may try and point the Chinese authorities in this direction.

Another possibility, around which there has been some speculation of late, is that the yuan may be pegged to a basket of currencies, rather than to the USD, a move which would be a very development from a European point of view. In fact, given that the Eurozone does 25% of its external trade with Asia, as opposed to just 15% with the US, the weak dollar would have far less serious implications for the Eurozone, if the link between the USD and Asian currencies was not so strong. Therefore, expect the G7, especially the European faction, to put pressure on the Chinese to consider ways and means of allowing the yuan to trade more in line with economic fundamentals, rather than faithfully tracking the USD. It remains to be seen, however, whether the Chinese authorities would be receptive to such advice, even if it carried the weight of such an august body as the G7.

China is expected to be the next superpower in the world!

It currently produces for example 60% of the world's bikes and 50% of the world's shoes! China is also flooding the world with cheap produce, contributing to global deflation. It has a huge labour force, which is very cheap. The average wage in the manufacturing industry in China is $40 cents, whereas in Ireland, it is 12 Euro an hour.

The currency has been pegged to the US dollar since 1995 at a very competitive rate. The Central Bank of China set this rate, however they are coming under increasing pressure to revalue the currency. China's ability to mass produce cheaply has had a huge impact on the US Current Account deficit - China's trade now accounts for 30% - 40% of the deficit in the US. China itself has a current account surplus and has massive US Dollar reserves. China may face the prospect of a revlauation of its currency however, although they are a member of the World Trade Organisation, they are under no obligation to revalue. It is thought that if they did revalue, it would be in the next 3 years.

In summary, China's economy is booming due to a competitive currency, a large and cheap labour force, and is becoming an emerging superpower in the world. It may face some pressure to revalue in coming years, but this is something they cannot be forced into.

The 4th Generation leadership under the new president, Hu Jintao was formally installed in power in early March ‘03. While Mr Hu lacks total autonomy to lead the Chinese Communist Party(CCP), this will not result in a sharp change in the direction of economic policymaking. This is partly because the outgoing leader Jiang Zemin will remain influential, as the policy preferences of the new generation, such as agricultural reform and a rebalancing of wealth were already being incorporated into economic policy before the recent handover of power.

The Chinese economy has been exceptionally robust, even in the current slow growth environment and the SARS epidemic which is starting to impact the economy, hitting tourism, retail sales and airlines. Economic growth is expected to continue in the 7%-8% range in 2003, spurred by export growth and continued efforts to stimulate the economy by the government, by means of public spending. China’s December 2001 entry into the World Trade Organisation continues to excite the interest of overseas companies and this attributed to the record foreign direct investment inflows seen last year.

The Chinese currency, the Renminbi, is pegged to the US dollar and has been extremely stable, trading on the firmer side of its Rmb8.28:US$1, the band is Rmb8.276-8.280:US$. The outlook is still positive for the currency as China enjoys strong FDI inflows and a large current a/c surplus thus neutralising any negatives from SARS.

Is China really taking over as the global manufacturing hub? In the past few months the alarm bells over the country's rapid penetration of industrial markets have grown louder. The main arguments are familiar: first, there is a significant migration of global manufacturing capacity to the mainland; and second, China is rapidly moving into capital-intensive and high-technology industries, threatening to erode the competitiveness of producers in developed countries.

The astute reader will argue that in lumping all manufacturing industries into one overall category, the above argument misses the point, which is that China has a much more devastating impact on those markets in which it competes directly. And the reader would be right. This brings us to the second argument, that China is rapidly moving up the manufacturing food chain. When we break down overall manufacturing by industrial category, we find that the mainland records a rapidly growing net surplus in textiles and light consumer goods (roughly $80bn last year) and an expanding deficit in machinery and capital equipment. Despite headline electronics exports of more than $100bn in 2002, the net balance was only $11bn, as China's information technology export sector is still predominantly made up of processing and assembly of imported components for re-export.

The bottom line is that China is becoming a manufacturing hub for the rest of the world in low-end, labour- intensive goods. Contrary to current fears, the rest of the world is becoming a manufacturing hub for China in high-end, capital-intensive goods. This is exactly how international trade should work.

A worry is that China's economy could collapse, or at least slow sharply, resulting in a flood of excess manufacturing capacity on to world markets. After all, this is what happened in 1997 and 1998, when a post-bubble decline in domestic demand caused the trade surplus to rocket to nearly 5 per cent of gross domestic product. Again, however, the chances are remote. Goldman Sachs' index of activity in China points to rapid growth over the past two years and, despite objective macroeconomic risks in the future, the outlook is far more stable and manageable than it was six years ago. Chinese manufacturing is a force to be reckoned with but not one to fear.

The writer is executive director of China Economics at Goldman Sachs

NEW YORK (February 6, 2003) - NEW YORK (Reuters) - Shares of Footstar Inc. (NYSE:FTS - News) surged 27 percent on Wednesday after the shoe retailer said it was expanding its distribution of Thom McAn Shoes to 1,500 Wal-Mart stores.

Footstar said it reached an agreement with Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's biggest retailer, to increase the number of stores to which it currently supplies shoes from 300 now. It said it expects the shoes to be in 700 Wal-Mart stores by March, and in the remaining stores by mid-summer, in time for the back-to-school selling season.

West Nyack, New York-based Footstar's shares rose $2.11 to $10.15 Wednesday afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange, where they were the top percentage gainer.

GENEVA (February 5, 2003) - The chief U.S. negotiator in the global trade talks dismissed concerns that a possible war against Iraq could bring talks to a virtual standstill for months and put in jeopardy the outcome of a crucial ministerial meeting in Cancun in September.

The World Trade Organization sponsored talks face a Jan.1, 2005 deadline.

"During international conflict, its very, very, important that we continue to move forward in keeping our economies healthy, and taking the steps necessary so that we'll be true in the future," Peter Allgeier, deputy trade representative, said in a news conference.
The U.S. official, had been asked to comment about concerns by some diplomats that a war could result in 2-3 months being lost in the talks.
"I think this organization (WTO) will remain committed to carrying forward with this important work," he said.

Many top envoys from rich and poor countries complain the talks are barely inching forward and in many areas are in a political stalemate.
But Allgeier left no doubts that President George W. Bush is four square behind the push for a successful WTO round.

The objective of the talks is to slash barriers to global trade in agricultural products, industrial goods and commercial services, worth annually about $7.3 trillion.

The world's largest retail giant Wal-Mart, which bought goods worth 12 billion US dollars in China last year, boasted of win-win cooperation with the country's manufacturing industry.
The value of Wal-Mart 's direct and indirect purchasing in China jumped from two billion US dollars in 1998 to 10.3 billion US dollars in 2001, making China its major buying base.
In February 2002, Wal-Mart established its global purchasing centre in Shenzhen to take charge of 200 billion US dollars worth of purchasing. Last October, the purchasing centre set up another branch in Shanghai.

Having built a comprehensive network of suppliers in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta among China's most developed manufacturing industries, Wal-Mart regards long-term bulk buying as beneficial both to itself and to China.
More Chinese goods could be sold through over 4,6000 Wal-Mart chain stores worldwide, said the retailer's senior managers.

If commercial goods worth 100 million US dollars could provide about 100,000 employment opportunities according to current estimates, Wal-Mart's purchasing value in China last year meant more than 12 million jobs.
The commercial goods Wal-Mart buys in China mainly include tools, shoes, clothes, furniture and electronic products. Many labour-intensive small and middle-sized domestic companies in China have gained valuable experience in dealing with international trade through cooperation with Wal-Mart. Meanwhile, their ability to upgrade their products and competitive edge have also been boosted.

Wal-Mart, with sales of 217.7 billion US dollars, was ranked first in Fortune magazine's world top 500 companies in 2001. Last year, it reported global sales of 245 billion US dollars.

On 1st and 2nd April 2003, the first World Footwear Congress will be held at the Brussels Congress Palace in Belgium.
The Congress is organized by the European Confederation of the Footwear Industry , sponsored by the EU Commission and presided by Mr. Liikanen, Commissioner of Industry, European Commission.
The objective of the World Footwear Congress is to create a platform where the whole footwear related world can speak freely about all problems and opportunities we are facing each in our part of the world.
We believe that mutual consideration is the key to a better interaction and an increased work offer within the industry.
Therefore we invited material suppliers, shoe manufacturers, retailers, research centres, professional work institutes, universities, professional schools and trade unions, to present their controversial ideas and confront their various views in the debate.

Issues - International opinions confronted :-
"What is a product copy and what is the expression of a fashion trend?"
"Why do the US want a zero tariff in WTO"
“Why EU industry is opposed to this?”
"What if tomorrow sustainable social development brings more equity in the workers income and thus creates "consumers"?"
"How can manufacturers and retailers work together to create 'fun' in shopping for the consumer?"
"Innovation is fundamental for footwear, but what is real innovation and what is variation on a same theme?" Armani, master of innovation, as well as retailers explain their views on innovation.

These are a few of the many interesting questions that will be discussed during the different sessions.

So far we have 14 countries announced - either associations or industrialists - as well as the big supply industry for tannery and for polyurethane and trade unions.
Participation is essential to lead the Congress to a successful and enriching event that will undoubtedly be of great importance for the further future of the whole footwear industry.,
The conclusions of the World Footwear Congress will be published on the website for an open discussion. E-consultations will lead to common positions and be the starting point for the next Congress in 2005.

“ I read your article on China with some interest. As an importer we work with several large factories in China and while the removal of quotas will make it easier for some customers to go direct many will get their fingers burnt along the way.
China is changing quicker than many people appreciate. Lead times are improving and minimum production runs are becoming smaller. We are presently making footwear confirmation samples 72 hours after receipt of an order and delivering goods in 25 days.
I agree that China needs controlling by good management but this is where the good importers with in-depth experience of the country will have the edge.”

Simon Ellis, MD, Beefly

What are the ramifications for sourcing and manufacturing following China’s entry to the World Trade Organisation ?
For many companies in the textiles, clothing and footwear sector, the news that inventor and entrepreneur James Dyson, such a champion of UK manufacturing, has had to bow to the inevitable and move his production to the Far East, will be familiar. Is this the final confirmation that Asia - and China in particular – is the only way to go for consumer goods manufacturers ?

A big question mark hangs over the impact of China’s accession to the WTO, when as early as 2005 apparel, textiles and footwear, as well as other general products, could be free from quotas. This might well result in China becoming the dominant exporter into the Western European market and China will undoubtedly see significant increases in its share of world trade in clothing, textiles and footwear.

“China has a great deal in its favour and everybody is thinking about China at the moment”, according to supply chain expert Kurt Salmon Associates.

“One of the things I love about summer is the shoes. There are lots of fantastic styles to choose from including mules, sandals, flip-flops and wedge heels.
This season fashion is definitely living on the wedge. The wedge heel not only gives you height but also has the advantage of being comfortable and easy to walk in. Absolute nirvana !
Wedges come in a variety of styles with wooden heels, cork heels and pretty painted wedges which pick up on the current vogue for hippie and retro styles.
These shoes are the perfect accessory for all your summer looks so put your best foot forward and get set for summer.”

Recent statistics issued by the SATRA Technology Centre in the UK show that China, already the world's major footwear producer, is doing better than ever in the global marketplace. Not only is the country manufacturing over half the world's footwear supplies, its exports are also growing by leaps and bounds. Export increases of 3%, 11% and 13% have been registered in recent consecutive years. Somewhat over 3.5 billion pairs of shoes left China's shores last year. It is an impressive performance fuelled by buoyant demand in Western markets and a low cost manufacturing base in China where the economies of vast scale production can be fully realised.

Now that the country is a member of WTO, it is a safe bet that exporting will be even more prolific since other WTO members will not be able to restrict imports through illegal tariffs and quotas. Production and exports look set fair for many years to come.

The region has become the workshop of the world, supplying Western markets with goods which are too expensive to manufacture at home. And there is no reason to believe that the fundamental scenario will change. Manufacturing will always gravitate to a lower cost location providing that all other considerations are equal. That means product quality, reliability of deliveries, quick response.

The global trend during the second quarter of 2002 is still for a very strong recovery in terms of the US and Euroland growth and this certainly will translate into export demand for Chinese goods for the rest of this year.
China’s trade surplus came in at US$7.26 billion in the first three months, up 53.5 per cent year on year. China’s exports – mostly low-priced goods – remained relatively resilient.
The price advantage of Chinese goods has increased their competitiveness in the global markets and export growth is predicted of between 8 per cent and 10 percent for the whole of this year.

Over 20 years ago, with the Cultural Revolution still smouldering, Jerome Cohen became one of the first lawyers to help an American company do business in China. Since then, he has worked hard to demystify the country then seen by foreigners as an "enormous black hole". He has vigorously promoted foreign co-operation, economic development, and above all, championed the basic rights of the Chinese people.

Mr Cohen welcomes China's official accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). On a recent visit to the mainland, he was impressed by moves being made to accommodate WTO demands. "I got the feeling of a tremendous good faith effort being made by all members, certainly of the legal profession who are touched by them, to improve the system in order to meet the new standards."

The central government also appears to be addressing its WTO obligations in earnest. The Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation (MOFTEC) recently created new agencies to monitor three aspects of compliance with WTO requirements. The first deals with complaints, the second with application of the standards in the provinces and the third with questions of fair trade, such as anti-dumping.

While Mr Cohen sees WTO accession as "a major shot in the arm to the Chinese legal system" he is at pains to downplay the notion that it will be a cure for the country's legal problems or that it will it resolve all the issues foreign businesses will face as they dive into China's vast markets.

WTO accession may be a major milestone in the long road of reform, but according to Mr Cohen the process of compliance still faces a number of roadblocks. Many questions remain over implementation and enforcement of the new requirements.
"Are the courts going to be expected to apply WTO standards directly, or only to the extent that they are enacted in legislation by China?" That, says Mr Cohen, is a key question for the Chinese courts and the government at large. Statements by judicial officials suggest that, if there is a conflict between WTO standards and national law, the new WTO rules would prevail. If this is indeed the case, explains Mr Cohen, "the Chinese courts have a greater burden then the courts of most countries."

How rigorously the requirements will be enforced is a stronger concern. While the central authorities may be keen to comply, in a country of over a billion people spread out over 9.5 million square kilometers, governance has always been a difficult issue. As an old Chinese saying goes - the mountains are high and the emperor is far away.

The Chinese-speaking world ushered in the lunar Year of the Horse with dancing dragons, caroling soldiers and all-night fireworks barrages.

As midnight on Monday approached - and with it the year 2002 by the traditional lunar calendar - the growing crescendo of fireworks explosions in Beijing sounded like the unbroken roar of a jet engine.
The night sky burst with red, yellow and green as residents set off private displays all over the capital, ignoring a ban that outlawed fireworks in all but a few public places.
The celebrations picked up again Tuesday morning. In Longtan Park on Beijing's south side, thousands beat drums and gongs while watching lines of red and blue-dressed dragon dancers.

On Monday night, China's leaders formally celebrated in the Soviet-style Great Hall of the People in Beijing's central Tiananmen Square. The hall was decked in bright red - the traditional colour of celebration and of the Communist Party.

Premier Zhu Rongji proclaimed 2001 a year of great accomplishments for the People's Republic, including entry into the World Trade Organization and Beijing clinching of the 2008 Olympics.
''The national economy continues to grow, reform and opening continue to move ahead ... the people's livelihood is improving,'' Premier Zhu said in a televised speech.

Shapes - Moccassins and collage loafers, Soft slippers, Two-tone sneakers, Light pumps, Wedges, Strappy sandals, Thongs.

Colours and effects - Patterned surfaces, Contrast piping, Sand and light blue, Black and white.

Themes - Nautical, Ballerina, Safari, Graphic prints.

Fabrics - Denim, Canvas, Corduroy, Natural leather.

Beijing has welcomed the decision by United States President George W. Bush to formally grant China most favoured nation treatment, known as permanent normal trading relations (PNTR), the final step in normalising relations and its reward for joining the World Trade Organisation. The White House on Thursday said Mr Bush had signed the proclamation granting China the same low-tariff levels the US extends to most other nations, effective from January 1. "It marks the completion of more than a decade of bilateral and multilateral negotiations and the beginning of a process of working constructively with China to help it fully implement its commitments on trade liberalisation," it said.

The Beijing Evening News splashed the story across the top of its front page yesterday. "This ends an annual review lasting a quarter of a century of whether to grant China such a status," it said. The review before the two Houses of Congress was an annual nightmare for Beijing, giving its opponents in labour unions, the political right, anti-abortion groups and human rights organisations the platform to attack China and receive wide coverage in the US media. After a fierce debate last year, Congress approved giving China permanent status. Then-president Bill Clinton signed it into law, conditional on China joining the WTO, which it did on December 11.

Tao Wenzhao, deputy director of the US institute at the China Academy of Social Sciences, said Mr Bush's decision was made because the US had become China's second-biggest trading partner and China had become the fourth-largest of the US. "The US is the largest investing country in China. According to recent surveys by the US Chamber of Commerce, more than 90 per cent of the American firms doing business in China are optimistic about the future of bilateral relations," Mr Tao said.

China's WTO membership will have a major impact, politically and economically, not only on China but on the world. China itself hopes that membership will give additional momentum to its economic reforms. And, as former US trade negotiator Charlene Barshefsky said on Wednesday at the Pacific Economic Co-operation Council meeting in Hong Kong: "As a WTO member, China will, for the first time, have power to shape the system to fit its own interests."

Many countries, especially in Southeast Asia, are apprehensive. They fear they will be unable to compete with a Chinese economic juggernaut that can produce virtually anything for the world's markets, cheaply and well. While events since September 11 have to some extent muted China's critics in the United States, there are still many who feel that an economically strong China inevitably means a militarily strong China - one that will pose a threat to American interests.

Now, however, a new, more positive, view of a rising China is emerging, both in Asia and in the West. "China is becoming the biggest engine of growth for Asia," Georges Ugeux, group executive vice-president of the New York Stock Exchange, said at the World Economic Forum's East Asia Economic Summit in Hong Kong in October. "China is now a centre-stage power not just politically, but economically."

Writing about the pros and cons of Chinese membership in the WTO, Thai parliamentarian Kubrak Chutikul said in the Bangkok Post that while "the worst-case scenario would be a crumbling of the political and social structures" that have held China together, "we must hope for the best". And the best scenario, he wrote, "would be a China that becomes a major engine of growth for the world, with an economy that can realise its full manufacturing and export potential so that industries and direct foreign investment can help absorb a growing workforce, leading to a momentous mobilisation of the immense reservoirs of Chinese entrepreneurship and creative talent, thus ensuring greater general welfare for a quarter of the world's population, as well as for those of China's trading partners".

It's nostalgia all round with Robbie and Nicole looking to the '50s for their Christmas hit; and the fashion pack jumping just a couple of decades further forward with the '70s as the inspiration behind some of the summer styles we've seen on the catwalks.

Hippy Chic will be a good look this spring/summer. There are also strong ethnic influences in the new collections, and psychedelic is there but with a less literal interpretation. Ruffles, feathers, frills and fringing will be big news as we all get touchy feely with soft suedes and natural toned leathers. Take your choice from bright bold prints, or peasant style skirts and blouses to keep your look bang up to date.

China yesterday embarked on its long march to stage the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, forming an organising committee which, one official said, aimed to write the "most glorious chapter in the history of the Olympics". Beijing mayor and committee chairman Liu Qi said the city wanted an Olympics that would turn polluted Beijing into an "eco-city" and give foreign firms a fair and transparent playing field to bid for coveted projects.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge, who has visited Beijing twice since July, gave his vote of confidence to the city's preparations. "The People's Republic of China has played host to several international sports competitions at all levels," wrote Mr Rogge in a statement read by a mainland official at the event. "There is no doubt therefore over the organisational capacity of China."

After a year during which China hosted a summit of world leaders in Shanghai and entered the World Trade Organisation, the 2008 Games was primed to put on an historic show, Beijing party boss Jia Qinglin said.

The European Commission is proposing that current quantitative restrictions on certain types of footwear imported from China be abolished with effect from 1st January, 2005. The removal of these quotas will have a number of significant "knock on" implications for the footwear industry, namely a decrease in the competitiveness of other low cost supplier countries such as Indonesia, India, Vietnam and Brazil; and a further erosion of volume production in Southern European countries. Volume retailers in Europe will become as dependent on China for footwear supplies as is the case in the USA.

People in major mainland cities say they need to be better prepared for the job opportunities and fierce competition they believe China's entry to the World Trade Organisation will bring, according to a survey.

More than 60 per cent of people interviewed in Beijing and Shanghai were optimistic about the future because of increased job opportunities, while 50 per cent questioned in Guangzhou held the same opinion, the Beijing Youth Daily reported. About 63 per cent of those surveyed thought the advantages of WTO entry would outweigh the disadvantages.

The Shaohai Market Research Company interviewed 634 people aged 15 to 65 in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou last weekend. Nearly 40 per cent said WTO entry would affect their work and daily lives and 58 per cent said it would improve living conditions. But many also expressed concern about entry, with about 40 per cent saying they would save money for a rainy day. More than a third of the people working for private or foreign-funded enterprises were prepared to lose their jobs due to competition, but felt they could find a better job. But those working at state-owned enterprises felt pressure from possible lay-offs and had lower career expectations.

China is a major manufacturing base for many industries and is also the world's fastest growing economy. China has now officially joined the WTO and its membership will significantly reduce the costs of purchasing from China for EU entities as tariffs and non-tariff restrictions are expected to be sharply reduced.

On foot of significant inbound investment, China continues to go from strength to strength and to consolidate its position as the #1 footwear producing country in the world.

There is much evidence that a foot covering was one of the first things made by our primitive ancestors. Necessity compelled them to invent some method of protecting their feet from the jagged rocks, burning sands, and rugged terrain over which they ranged in pursuit of food and shelter. The history of human development shows that the importance of protecting the foot was early recognized. Records of the Egyptians, the Chinese and other early civilizations all contain references to shoes. The shoe is repeatedly mentioned in the Bible and the Hebrews used it in several instances with a legal significance, notably in binding a bargain.

Shoes of one sort or another are rich in legend and figure conspicuously in the folklore of different races. The shoe, even up to the present time, continues to figure in those stories, which have come down to us. The stories of the wonderful Seven League Boots, Mercury's Winged Sandals, Puss in Boots, Cinderella, and others, all existed in some ancient and often nearly forgotten tongue, but are still well known to all children. The custom of throwing the shoe after the newly wedded couple is but one of the many instances in which the shoe, when used according to formula, was supposed to bring luck.

In its first form the shoe was just a simple piece of plaited grass or rawhide which was strapped to the feet. Among the relics of early Egyptians are some sandals made from plaited papyrus leaves, beautifully and artistically wrought. Records show that sandal making had become a well-recognized art early in the history of that country. The sandal still is the most generally worn type of footwear in many warm countries. In form and ornamentation it reflects the environment in which it was worn, together with the artistic tastes of the peoples. In some countries the sandal continues to be the same simple kind worn since the dawn of history, while in others the multiple form of the straps and beautiful decorative work reflect the artistry, progress and prosperity of the wearers. The Japanese, long a sandal wearing people indicated the social status of the wearer by making distinctive sandals for the Imperial Household, merchants and actors, in fact, for the whole range of vocations and professions. The Greeks emphasized design and beauty, while the Romans devised a military type of sandal that enabled their legions to travel on foot throughout the then known world. In the more luxurious days of the late Empire the sandals were often beautifully wrought with ornaments of gold and precious stones.

The moccasin is the foot protection of cold countries. The puckered seam which outlines the forepart of the moccasin is all that remains of the puckering string once gathered and tied about the ankle. This peculiar seam still appears in the footwear of people in every cold county. The moccasin of the North American Indian, the Eskimo, and the Laplander all have it.