Fashion brands brace for China’s export shift

Facing escalating tariffs from the U.S. and political uncertainty, Chinese manufacturers are rapidly refocusing their export strategies, shifting their gaze to Europe, Southeast Asia, and domestic e-commerce in a bid to weather the latest rupture in global trade.

According to the Financial Times, exports to Europe surged 12 percent in May, with Germany alone up 22 percent year-on-year, as factories across Zhejiang, the country's second-largest exporting province, work to secure new clients in markets less volatile than the U.S.

For global fashion and retail brands that depend on China's robust manufacturing base, this pivot could reshape sourcing dynamics and pricing structures.

“We’re very eager, we can make anything,” said Xia Shukun of Shaoxing Sulong Outdoor Technology, which is courting new European clients. Yet with this eastward tilt comes rising competition. European buyers, once dependent on a smaller pool of Chinese suppliers, now face a deluge of low-cost offerings, threatening established relationships and price stability.

“This is the toughest year yet,” said Vera Wu told the FT, whose company supplies accessories to Lidl and Ikea. As Beijing doubles down on cross-border e-commerce and subsidises overseas trade shows, the fashion industry may need to prepare for what EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called “a new China shock”, one where overcapacity, not just geopolitics, floods the global market.