China pushes for purchases of foreign clothing brands

China wants domestic textile makers to stop expanding production capacity and buy overseas clothing brands to boost profit margins as they face trade barriers that may block US$2.6bn worth of exports this year, the Standard of Hong Kong reported, citing government officials. Clothing makers should modernize existing production lines to boost revenue rather than relying on expansion, because oversupply in the domestic and global markets has depressed prices, Yan Hui, deputy director-general of the Commerce Ministry's bureau of industrial losses, told a textile conference in Beijing. "China's central government is pushing for mergers and purchases of foreign brands'' to benefit from their production and marketing expertise, said Du Yuzhou, head of the China National Textile and Apparel Council. The US Commerce Department said last week it accepted petitions to consider caps on imports of some clothing lines.