“As already happened with the anticipated date of July， rescheduled to meet new market trends， Milano Unica has taken a lead role， along with its partner Messe Frankfurt， in facing a new challenge， i.e. moving up the date of Asias most important textiles trade show to the end of September. The strategic role of our exhibition has a two-fold goal： to bring businesses closer to this market by giving visibility to Made-in-Italy excellencies and， as direct consequence， increase attendance of Chinese buyers in the Milan edition， a goal that we have already reached. If we consider， in addition to the numbers， the increased number of Chinese buyers at the Milan editions， we can readily see not only the strategic importance of that large market for our industry， but also the farsighted and effective role played by Milano Unica，” said Ercole Botto Poala， President of Milano Unica.

Similarly to the past editions， 42 Italian businesses will present their A/W 2019-2020 collections in the framework of the Milano Unica Pavilion： an elegant venue promoting the process of expansion of Italian businesses in the Chinese market， a successful initiative that has consolidated， in a broad and contradictory market， thanks to the collaboration of ICE Agency and the support of the Italian Ministry for the economic Development.

Milano Unica， the Italian Textiles Trade Show， has taken a lead role in the worlds textiles trade show panorama. In a highly qualified context， in the four annual editions held in Milan and Shanghai， Milano Unica is an excellent showcase of high-end Made-in-Italy and Made-in-Europe textiles for men and women. In addition， there are the Japan and Korea Observatories and the Area Tendenze.

“ICE Agency considers the collaboration developed with Milano Unica particularly positive， not only because of the commercial results obtained over time， which demonstrate the importance of public-private collaboration in one of the critical industries of global competition， but also for the contribution provided to the overall enhancement of the image of Made-in-Italy production in this large and complex market. The quality and the specificity of the trade show organized by Milano Unica contribute to reinforcing the distinctive characteristics of the quality of Italian know-how，”said Massimiliano Tremiterra， Head of ICE Agency Shanghai.

“The success of our trade show within Intertextile Shanghai， the worlds largest textiles trade show， is also due to the indispensable support of ICE Agency. In addition， there is the decision to pre-select visitors in order to offer to our exhibitors contacts that are in line with the positioning of our medium-high-end products. Despite its large size， the Chinese market remains complex and rather difficult to interpret. I believe that Milano Unica has provided an unprecedented tool to facilitate its understanding，” concluded Massimo Mosiello， General Director of the Trade Show.

Partners of Milano Unica are： the Italian Ministry for the Economic Development， ICE Agency， the Municipality of Milan， Smi and Banca Sella for the private sector.

Economic comments

In the first 6 months of 2018， the balance of trade in textiles between Italy and China， including Hong Kong， recorded steady figures， with exports amounting over euro 192 million and imports down by -11.6%， totaling over euro 190 million， with a positive trade balance of over euro 2 million.

The most important share of exports is represented by combed wool fabrics， making for more than 40% of the total. Jersey， cotton fabrics and worsted wool fabrics follow with percentages going from 18% to 15%. As to Chinese imports， cotton and silk fabrics weigh over 30% each， while jersey makes for approximately 25%.

The positive trend of exports to China， including Hong Kong， weighs significantly on the overall trend of exports of fabrics in value， which is in line with the levels recorded in the first half of 2017 and totals approximately euro 1.9 billion. In the first half of 2018， China， including Hong Kong， has been， once again， the largest market for Italian textiles， outperforming Germany， which had vaulted into first place in the initial months of the year. Exports towards Greater China amounted to over euro 192 million in value， while exports to Germany recorded euro 191 million. Statistics for the half-year period also confirmed the reversal of the trend in the balance of imports and exports between Italy and China-Hong Kong in value. The positive balance， equal to approximately euro 1 million， recorded in 2017， has doubled in the first six months of 2018. In previous years， the sectors trade balance had always been very negative， even if improving （from euro 100 million in 2014 to euro 37 million in 2016）. This result was influenced by a combination of factors： in the first place， decreasing imports and， secondly， the slow and steady growth of exports and， last but not least， the possible triangulations with third countries.