"Although China's garment industry has a great potential for further development, it still has a long way to go in comparison to its international peers, " Du Yuzhou, president of the China National Federation of Textile Industries, said Friday.

Du made the remarks at the four-day 10th China International Clothing and Accessories Fair.

More than 860 domestic and overseas manufacturers and companies attended the fair.

Statistics show that China's textile and garment industries exported 52.1 billion U.S. dollars worth of products in 2000. The export of ready-made clothes totaled 36.1 billion U.S. dollars, 18.1 percent of the world's total.

In the past 20 years, garment production in China has increased nearly 15 fold, with an annual growth rate of 14.4 percent. Currently, 45,000 garment businesses in China produce more than 310 articles of clothing per second and make a profit of 60,000 U.S. dollars every minute.

Wang Qing, vice-president of the China Garment Association and also president of the China Garment Designers Association, said China, taking the advantage of its abundant yet low-cost human resources, has established a quality-guaranteed processing system for ready-made clothes.

China's entry into the WTO will help consolidate and strengthen its role as the top garment processing center in the world. However, China's current processing industry does not reach international standards of top-grade ready-made garments.

Wang said fashion, which combines economic status, technological level and cultural background, is disadvantaged in China. The ready-made clothing industry still depends on garment processing, which needs a fully-established marketing system and famous brands.

In recent years, China has devised strategies to improve garment production and train garment professionals in trading centers in certain areas. A program was also carried out by local administrations to hire professional managers with international experience in the industry.