Bangladesh sees China as the next major export destination due to its rising middle class and the duty free benefits it enjoys under the Asia-Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA). Because of the low cost of production and the duty free allowance, Chinese buyers can save up to 15 per cent on garment imports from Bangladesh. Almost 90 per cent of the garments Bangladesh exports to China without duty include T-shirts, jeans, sweaters and casual trousers.
Industry estimates indicate that garment exports to China, which is Bangladesh’s second largest apparel market after Japan, increased 73.5 per cent year-on-year in the fiscal year 2013-14 to $241.37 million. Besides apparel, jute, jute goods, leather and leather goods from Bangladesh are also gaining popularity in China.
Bangladesh currently enjoys duty free trade with China on more than 4,000 items and at the moment, the country is working on ways to gain duty-free access under more product categories. From July 2014 to February 2015, Bangladesh exported 513 million worth of goods to China, according to the Export Promotion Bureau.
