We have interviewed some of the companies that deliver fabrics from China and learned their opinion about Chinese textile companies.

Alena Zvonik, commercial director

Our company was established in 2003 and since the beginning we started to work with the best Chinese manufacturers that work worldwide and export their fabrics to the USA, European and Asian countries.

Since we work with the best factories that produce quality fabrics with the texture and range equal to European manufacturers, there was no need to hide that we sell Chinese textiles.

The range of our collections features various colors and all styles from classic to modern. Our fabrics are bright and lively, very shiny and flickering helping to make every house a home!

We have our company’s representative at the factories. And our general manager visits China himself. That’s why we can control a level of quality, ship orders on time and track transportation of fabrics. Logistics in our company are professionally established.

If before we used to wait for cargo for about 40-45 days, now it takes maximum 15 days. For urgent orders we offer fast air delivery from China to Moscow within 3-5 days.

Our Chinese partners export their fabrics to the USA, Germany, France. Now China sells a large volume of textiles to Europe.
Of course, the quality is not perfect. It’s not always possible to get 100% quality or the right color in textile business. 2% deviation is acceptable. There were situations when we got the wrong color but now factories manage all queries more carefully.

Roman Zemskov, general manager

Our company used to buy finest exclusive and mostly expensive fabrics before and we started to work in Chinese market 2 years ago, in conditions of economic crisis. At that time our customers needed cheaper production in order to reduce their expenses.
Curtains are the final stage of interior design and by this time customers run out of financial sources, so we had to find an alternative to high quality European fabrics.

Chinese manufacturers possess the newest equipment from Europe, they have learnt to create similar designs as their Western colleagues and their products are in a high demand in domestic market. In fact, they started to create fabrics only for the needs of domestic market.

They definitely have a different business approach but generally there is no much of a difference working with Chinese factories. Minimum order is from 1 r.m., all fabrics are available in stock and they offer fast delivery by air.

Undoubtedly, European manufacturers are more experienced: there were centuries of work and generations that developed the high quality and the level of fabrics available in the market now. China can’t brag the same level and quality but they are fast-learners and reached almost the same level and offer better rates. European prices include high taxes, NATO membership, refugee expenses, social problems, etc. But Chinese prices include only manufacturing costs and company’s profit.

The same situation happened 30-40 years ago in the USA when Japanese cars started to appear in American market. In the beginning those cars were considered as unusable but later started to replace American cars by affordable prices. Later the company has launched “Lexus”.
Nowadays Japanese cars are known as one of the most reliable cars and soon will reach German cars’ quality. Now Japan is ahead of French and Italian car industry.

The same situation is with South Korean cars – they hire European designers and build new models. Even "Hyundai Solaris" is not as ugly as it used to be 15 years ago. It’s quite a good car as for its low price.

That’s why it doesn’t matter where you keep your modern equipment - in France or China. What matters is production and quality standards.

Color discrepancy happens in every company. And even the most expensive wall covers consignment can be different from what we have ordered. And it’s normal. Sometimes the blackouts we ordered can be delivered in different color tones. You have to be ready for this.
In our experience, I would say, Chinese companies have the same defect percentage as European ones. But, for example, soft velvet comes with 0% of defects. So, you have to work with different manufacturers in order to find the best quality.

We used to work with all famous European manufacturers before and of course I wanted to find the same quality substitutes. When I saw Chinese quality, I made a decision to switch to their market. If I didn’t like the quality and composition, we wouldn’t have started working with China. Because our customers need good quality and reasonable price. And China has reached the necessary level.

I still remember our first trade fair: I was saying that our fabrics are from South East Asia and never used the word “China”. But by the end of the first day I’ve realized that everybody has been saying “Chinese fabrics? – That’s great!”, so professionals at the Heimtextil have perceived this fact easily.

But due to the difficult economic situation the development is slow. Second, and it’s the main reason, - samples are not cheap. Fabrics are cheap but books’ prices are the same as in Europe so many decorators are not ready to invest, they don’t have enough money to buy collections.