China is the world’s largest shoe producer and exporter. In recent years, China has produced more than 10 billion pairs of shoes each year, accounting for nearly 70% of the total number of shoes in the world. It is the world’s largest footwear manufacturing base and also the world’s largest footwear exporter.
At present, China’s shoe industry has formed three major shoe production areas in Guangdong, Zhejiang and Fujian, with the total annual output of the three provinces accounting for more than 70% of the country’s total. These main production areas have complete industrial chains, prominent brand advantages, excellent talent gathering, rapid information dissemination and strong anti-risk ability, and become the mainstay of China’s shoe industry. However, in recent years, with the change of international trade environment and domestic economic policies, the improvement of labor force level in coastal areas and the gradual increase of industrial costs have forced the shoemaking industry in the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta region to carry out in-depth adjustment and begin to transfer to inland provinces. At present, the gradient transfer of shoemaking industry has formed a trend, and the main undertaking places are the western and central parts of China.

China’s footwear production is about 13.1 billion pairs, and the growth rate continues to decline. The domestic market consumption is about 3.9 billion pairs, with a total consumption of 396 billion yuan. The growth rate of footwear consumption has entered a downward cycle, especially the leather shoes industry, which has not yet reached the bottom. Exports were 9.29 billion pairs, with a value of 44.89 billion US dollars, with negative growth for two consecutive years; At the same time, imports have continued to grow at a high speed against the trend for many years, with a volume of 110 million pairs and a value of 2.74 billion dollars. The contradiction between demand and supply has become more prominent. When the original contradictions have not been resolved, China’s shoe industry will also face multiple challenges, such as the “unilateral” rise in factor costs, changes in the labor supply structure, continued increase in international competition pressure, rapid changes in consumption trends, and the impact of the new economy on the industry.

The situation of small and medium-sized shoe enterprises is even more difficult. In addition to the financial pressure caused by the rising labor costs, the domestic environmental regulation policies are constantly tightened, and the pressure on environmental protection is also increasing. In 2016, more than 90% of the closed enterprises in the Pearl River Delta were enterprises below the designated size.

Among the shoe enterprises above the designated size, the order saturation situation in 2016 was very common. In contrast, although the number of small and medium-sized enterprises was large, the enterprises above the designated size still assumed most of the production capacity of the casual shoe industry. These enterprises are not as vulnerable as small enterprises in the face of difficulties. With the improvement of leisure shoe industry technology and the promotion of machine automation, the production advantages of big shoe enterprises are expanding, and orders are gradually flowing back to big shoe enterprises.

The shoemaking industry is a typical labor-intensive industry. Shoes in China are divided into leather shoes, cloth shoes, rubber shoes and plastic shoes (chemical shoes), which are called four shoes. With the progress of society and the development of science and technology, people have higher and higher requirements for shoes, while the four kinds of shoes are infiltrating from raw materials, accessories, processing and assembly technology, style and function, learning from each other, learning from each other, and competing with each other. Therefore, the modeling style, structural materials and functions of shoes are changing with each passing day. In addition to the changing styles and materials of shoes in various segments, the consumption structure of various types of shoes has also changed.