We are now in May， leaving behind the first four months of the year， which witnessed ups and downs， gains and losses in this turbulent period， with the new cases of COVID-19 to continue hitting high in some countries and the loss of lives to keep breaking the new level on global basis as a consequence of the renewed waves and the new variants of the virus still running rampant.

In April， the reports of economic growth to wrap up the first quarter began to be issued here and there in many countries across the world， and China is one of the many to report the economic performances in the first quarter that sees its GDP growth eminently by 18.3% over the same period of last year， a sharp contrast to -4.90% in Euro Area that covers -3.70% in Germany， -7.30% in the United Kingdom， -4.90% in France， -6.60% in Italy， -2.80% in Netherlands，-8.90% in Spain， etc.， and also to 0.40% in the United States， -3.20% in Canada and -4.30% in Mexico in the North America. In Asia， China came into the spotlight， far outrunning some of the Asian countries with -1.4% in Japan， 0.40% in India， 1.8% in South Korea， -2.07% in Indonesia， -4.20% in Thailand， -8.30% in Philippines， 0.20% in Singapore， etc.

In the context of the robust growth of macro-economy in China， the textile industry， as a whole， was growing at an incredible rate to mark 35.8% in business income for 625.6 billion Yuan， and 139% in profits totaling 25.2 billion Yuan， and 47.6% in bricks-and-mortar retail shops， 44.3% for the online sales for textiles and fashion in the first two months of the year， even though the full report for the first quarter covering Jan.-March period is yet to come. Amid the surging waves of the new cases in the global pandemic scenario， Chinas export of textiles and apparel was moving on headwind pace to ramp up by 55%， $46.1 billion in value terms， to be more exact， $22.1 billion for textiles， up by 60.8%， and $24 billion for apparel， up by 50% from January to February.

Chinese government is encouraging an inclusive development strategy with domestic market as the bigger circulation engine， coupled with the dual circulation tracks of both the domestic and the international markets， to address the rising challenges from the global economic growth that was hindered for many reasons with the pandemic impact being one of them， and the aggravating business climate in some international markets being the protuberant clog. In textile and apparel business perspective， the Chinese market share in the United States imports slid down to 28.54% from the previous bulk that had been hovering around 40% for many years， according to the latest trade statistics report as of February 2021， issued by the Department of Commerce U.S.A.

The domestic market circulation for our textiles and apparel consumption is one of the drivers to keep this manufacturing sector running well， and the rising number of middle-classers adds much more values to the market prospect， in addition to the goal that has just been accomplished to have eradicated the absolute poverty in China， laying a solid foundation for sustainable market growth in the days to come. Whats more， the online sales out of the traditional street shopping will continue to be the important contributor to the industrial growth as is shown by the Textile and Apparel Online Sales Report that points out the year of 2020 sees 7.29 trillion Yuan in business transaction values， up by 8.97%， of which the B-2-B reaches 5.29 trillion Yuan， up by 7.96% and the B-2-C retails finishes for 1.8 trillion Yuan， up by 8.2%， accounting for 15.32% of all the online goods on sale.

As these figures speak louder， we stay firm and optimistic in making much headway with the vaccine-powered economic outlook.

Editor-in-Chief

April， 2021