Problems encountered in the export of China's safety footwear industry

1.1 Decrease in Labor Costs and Advantages

China's exporters of safety shoes occupy the international market because of its significant cost advantage. Among the factors that form the cost advantage, the comparative advantage of China's labor price is the main forming factor. The shoemaking industry is a labor-intensive industry. China has a large population. The basic labor skills of workers are higher than those in India, Pakistan, Africa and other countries with low labor costs. China's safety footwear products have a large cost advantage in the international market. However, we must also realize that with the development of the domestic economy, labor prices have become higher and higher, and other costs such as water fees and electricity charges have risen many times, and the comparative advantage of labor prices has been weakened. As safety shoe manufacturers cut prices and competition, and labor prices have increased year by year, running counter to foreign offers has led to a gradual decline in the cost advantage of China's safety shoe manufacturers, which in turn has led to a decline in corporate profitability. With the continuous development of the economy of other developing countries, they also rely on the advantages of cheap labor for processing trade.

1.2 Unreasonable industrial structure

At present, the structure of China's safety footwear industry is unreasonable. Mainly in the following two points: First, the proportion of raw materials and safety shoes finished product imbalance; Second, China's safety footwear product structure is high, the proportion of basic and basic models imbalance. It is understood that at present, China's safety shoes, such as Baotou Steel and other high-tech accessories must be imported to developed countries, the country is not yet available for independent development capabilities; In addition, for the safety shoes, such as large buffalo leather must also be passed Imported to countries such as India. As for the ratio of high, medium and basic funds. At present, most companies are in the very low-end copy of the basic models of safety shoes on foreign markets. The proportion of some companies is even as high as 100%, and a few companies that have developed independently have reached a basic ratio of 95. %the above.

1.3 Lack of professionals and backward technology

China's safety shoe manufacturers generally have a low proportion of professional and technical personnel, lack of excellent design talents, and difficulty in creating safety shoes with unique safety performance. The lack of keen sense of smell on popular information has led to the existence of functional safety shoes and international safety shoes in China. Time lag can therefore only be modelled on the existing international safety shoes. The quality of professional and technical personnel and designers directly affects the improvement of their scientific and technological content, while the lack of human resources, especially in the development and production of new products, business management and product quality control, lacks the necessary talents. It will directly affect the formulation of the company's business plan, product quality and style updates, thus affecting the market for products in foreign markets.

2.1 Changes in Export Price of Safety Shoes in China

Through Table 3, we can see that the unit price of China's safety footwear exports has risen in the overall trend in the past five years, while the unit price of the world's safety shoes has generally declined. This is in line with the increase in the share of China's safety footwear in the international market. The decrease in the unit price of export of safety shoes in the world is related; on the other hand, the continuous rise in raw material prices and the increase in labor costs have led to a significant increase in the cost of Chinese safety shoes. This continues to drive the overall increase in the unit price of China's safety footwear exports. At the same time, we should also note that the average unit price of China's safety footwear exports has been lower than the average unit price of the world's safety footwear exports, which fully shows that the price advantage is still the main factor in China's expansion of exports, safety shoes participate in international competition is mainly to rely on price advantage to win. Exports are still typical of an open growth model. At the same time, it also reflects that there is still a large gap between China's safety shoes and developed countries in terms of technology, and further improvement is still needed.

2.2 Quality of China's Safety Shoes Export Products

In recent years, due to the rapid growth in the production capacity of safety shoes in China, the production pattern has evolved from the single, simple safety shoes of 2000 years ago in the following two directions: (1) The rapid increase in production capacity has led to a very fierce price competition for simple-type shoes. This resulted in cutting corners, leading to a sharp decline in quality; 2 part of the manufacturers began to take the development of high-end safety shoes line, note function, high production entry threshold, quality control is very strict. In short, the trend of polarization is accelerating.

China Labor Insurance Network