In 2005, the port province of Jiangsu in east China exported 8.09 million pairs of shoes to the European Union, a drop of 11.8 percent from the previous year, according to local customs statistics.

 

Last December, shoe exports to the European Union (EU) plunged to 539,000 pairs, down 35.1 percent from 2004.

 

Despite the drop in quantity, prices for the exported shoes were on average 31.1 percent higher than for the same period last year, averaging US$1.6 per pair.

 

According to a report by the Nanjing Customs, the decrease is a result of the EU's control on Chinese shoes exports for the period Feb. 1, 2005 to Jan. 31, 2006.

 

The anti-dumping investigation, launched by the European Union on Jun. 30, 2005, also contributed to the drop, the report shows.

 

Europe is the third largest market for the province's shoes exports, after the United States and Japan.

 

Last year, Jiangsu's sales of 25.3 million pairs of shoes to the United States and 15.7 million pairs to Japan made up more than 78.5 percent of total shoe exports.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 21, 2006)