Bag, suitcase exports see surge on booming overseas demand

Domestic firms bank on e-commerce, product design efforts for sales growth

Driven by surging demand in overseas markets, especially the rebounding tourism sector, China's bag and suitcase manufacturers have been rushing to recruit more workers and focus on new foreign trade formats to sustain their growth this year, said industry leaders and exporters.

With foreign markets booming, China's exports of bags and suitcases surged 33.2 percent on a yearly basis to $12.7 billion in the first five months, accounting for 40 percent of the world's total, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

These orders were mainly placed by buyers in the United States, the European Union, Japan and member economies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. All three of China's manufacturing bases of bags and suitcases－Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang provinces－are expected to see stable export growth this year, said Li Wenfeng, vice-president of the Beijing-based China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Light Industrial Products and Arts-Crafts.