Future Development of China’s Zipper Industry

Zippers are one of ten modern inventions that facilitate people's lives. The customized zipper is appeared a century ago. At that time, in certain areas of Central Europe, people tried to replace buttons and bows with belts, hooks and rings, and experiments began to develop zippers. Zippers were first used in military uniforms. During the First World War, the U.S. military ordered many zippers for soldiers to wear during the First World War. However, it was not until women accepted it in 1930 that zippers began to be widely used among people to replace zipper buttons.

Though it is tiny, it has a profound impact on human life. So far, zippers have been widely used in space suits, diving suits, protective clothing, tents, bags, clothing, shoes, pants and other fields. With the development of science and technology, new materials and new technologies continue to emerge, expanding the application range of the zipper. For example, the new vacuum plating technology of nylon zipper and plastic zipper makes the zipper not only a connecting piece, but also a unique decoration.

As we all know, due to the emergence of newer and better alternative products, the old ones are disposed to be replaced. However, although the metal zipper has existed for more than 100 years, it is still a representative of excellent technology and design, reflecting the continuous creativity of human beings. For more than 100 years, the functions of zipper products have been continuously improved, and the types of zippers have also greatly increased, but the basic principles of zippers have not been broken or changed.

It is expected that the zipper will not be replaced by other products for at least the next 50 years. In addition, with the introduction and combination of high-tech achievements, zipper will appear in more forms and expand its use and market. Therefore, it can be said that the zipper industry undoubtedly has growth potential.

At present, China's zipper output ranks first in the world, and the cost of the same type of zipper in developed countries is more than three times higher than that in China. As a labor-intensive industry, with the popularity of Chinese zippers in the global market, the impact of anti-dumping, intellectual property and other trade barriers, China’s neighboring countries have become our competitors. Therefore, to get rid of the industry’s predicament, we must transfer labor and competitive advantages. The advantages of quality and price can be realized by relying more on core patented technology.

As labour intensive products, ordinary zippers don’t have high added value. Compared with developed countries, China has obvious comparative advantages in labor and management costs. Meanwhile, China also has a large consumer market. After China joined the World Trade Organization in 2002, domestic zipper industry has entered the international market in an all-round way. In particular, the prosperity of China’s zipper related industries such as clothing, bags and tourism supplies have driven the development of zipper industry.

There are signs that the center of gravity of world zipper production is gradually shifting to China. Therefore, we can believe that China’s zipper industry still has a great potential.