A Comparative Study Between China And Hong Kong As A Manufacturing Base OfHong Kong Men’s Shirt

Men’s shirt has been one of the major categories of Hong Kong clothing industry. In recent years, high inflation rate, increases in labour cost and overhead expenses has resulted in many of the Hong Kong men’s shirt manufacturers moving their production base to other Asian countries. Given the geographical proximity and cultural similarity, China has been considered as a possible alternative manufacturing base for Hong Kong men’s shirt. This paper aims at investigating the feasibility of China to become a new manufacturing base for Hong Kong men’s shirt. Twenty Hongkong shirt manufacturers and offices were interviewed to identify the factors attributive to the success of men’s shirt manufacturing. These factors were evaluated by Point Weighting Method for situations in China and Hong Kong now and in ten years’ time. In addition, SWOT Analysis is employed to compare the internal strengths and weaknesses and the external threats and opportunities between Hong Kong and China. Results showed that China is being preferred and will increasingly be preferred as a new manufacturing base for Hong Kong men's shirt.