feather

" With more than 100 years' history of exporting feather products, China, now, is the largest producer and exporter of feather and down products in the world. In 1998, the foreign exchange income by exporting feather products have been up to US＄660 million. According to the data from the State Statistical Bureau, there are about 2,800 factories engaged in the production of feather and down products in China, in which about 1600 enterprises have an annual output value of more than RMB 1 million yuan. Their total output value is RMB15.4 billion yuan, and their sales income is RMB 14 billion yuan. With altogether 160,000 employees, they have produced 74.43 million pieces of feather and down garments and 8.5 million pieces of quilts in 1998. In 1997, Japan was the largest export market of the Chinese feather and down products. While in 1998, the U.S became the largest one with a total import value of US＄179,350,000 from China, taking up 28.6％ of the total export value of the Chinese feather and down products, which is the same as the proportion that Japan took up in 1997. Thus, the U.S took the leading position, which Japan had been occupying for years."