News / 'Leaving Chinese factories to source elsewhere will hit your speed to market'

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Apparel manufacturers and brands looking to diversify their sourcing from China are likely to be faced with lower productivity, slower speed to market and greater risk, delegates at last week’s Transpacific Maritime conference in Long Beach heard.

Jane Singer, director and head of market intelligence at consultancy Inside Fashion, said the disadvantages of China’s increasingly high cost base was often offset by other considerations.

“China is definitely expensive, and the trade war has made things messy, but what is prompting buyers to ...