Mesh fabric

China's mesh fabric export industry is poised for growth, after recovering from a slowdown in the first few months of 2006.The country's nearly 3,000 exporters shipped close to US$3 billion worth of mesh fabric in 2005, registering 17 percent growth. But exports slowed at the beginning of the following year as orders from garment-exporting countries in Asia, China's main market for mesh fabric, decreased. These garment makers suffered from the lifting of WTO quotas in January, with many of their overseas buyers turning to China for their apparel sourcing. Safeguards on a number of China-made mesh apparel categories and an increased focus on the EU market, however, have propelled growth, with sales in the first seven months of 2006 increasing 13 percent to US$2 billion.