Shaxi

Shaxi Town (沙溪镇) is a township of Zhongshan City in Guangdong Province, China. The township covers an area of 55 square kilometers and has a population of 162,000, including 100,000 migrant workers. It is administered by 15 neighborhoods and one community committee (社区). The town is the ancestral hometown for about 70,000 overseas Chinese in such organizations as the Hook Sin Tong. In 2002, the GDP of the town reached RMB 2.1 billion and foreign exchange earnings topped RMB 147 million. [http://www.ctei.gov.cn/chanyejidi/ebase6.htm] It is one of the leading manufacturing centers of casual clothing in the world producing blue jeans and shirts. Each year it holds one of the world's largest trade shows for casual wear, the Chinese International Casual Wear Trade Show (中国休闲服装博览会).

In 2002, it was designated as "China's Most Famous Town for Casual Wear" by the Chinese Textile Industry Association and Chinese Garment Association [http://www.zsboftec.gov.cn/eng/environment/200403260032.htm] . There are 710 clothing manufacturers in the town, employing 43,000 workers. In 2002, the township produced over 200 million garments, earning RMB 6.3 billion in sales and US $123 million in foreign currency.

The sweatshop conditions of the Lifeng Clothes Factory (丽锋服饰制衣有限公司) while producing Vigaze Jeans were featured in the 2006 documentary "China Blue." [http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/chinablue/film.html]

External links

* [http://www.zsnews.cn/News/ The Zhongshan News] zh icon
* [http://www.shaxi.gov.cn Shaxi Township Government] zh icon
* [http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/chinablue/film.html Documentary "China Blue"] en icon
* [http://www.lifeng-cn.com/ Lifeng Factory] en icon