The textile and garment industry is one of the first sectors which Chinese enterprises have gone global. In addition, rising labour costs in China and tariff differences of Chinese and Southeast Asian products have led to relocation of factories to countries with lower production costs in Southeast Asia. The outgoing enterprises has created job opportunities and developed the economy in these countries. At the same time, Chinese enterprises have also faced challenges in fields like CSR and labour standards.
To
understand Chinese outbound investments in the sector, especially
companies’ commitment
to social responsibility, field trips were conducted in Cambodia,
Myanmar, Bangladesh,
as well as Vietnam by the Office for Social Responsibility, China
National Textile
and Apparel Council and external consultants. It is hoped that the
series of
reports can provide well-rounded overview of implementation of
responsible
business practices and sustainability amongst Chinese textile and
garment enterprises
overseas, as well as to act as references for policy formulators in the
future. This report focuses on situation in Bangladesh, and is divided
into four sections: 1) Background and Methodology; 2) Field Trips
Findings; 3) Best Practices; 4) Conclusions and Suggestions. This report is in Chinese only.