Update | 100m shirts and counting: Textile maker Esquel embraces technology to cut costs and protect the environment

How does a business produce 100 million shirts a year without having to worry about rising costs? For Hong Kong-based Esquel Group, the world’s largest woven shirt maker with 56,000 employees, the answer is automation and environmentally friendly production processes that enhance productivity.

Esquel has invested 2 billion yuan (HK$2.34 billion) in a new factory in Jiumeiqiao, Guilin, where modern equipment is being used to reduce the cost of making clothing and shirts. The company even encourages tourists to visit the production plant to see how shirts are made, according to John Cheh, vice-chairman and chief executive of Esquel.

The first phase of the project will be completed by mid-2017, creating jobs for more than 2,000 workers.

The company’s expansion plan in mainland China stands in contrast with many other textile manufacturers, which have shifted to Cambodia or Bangladesh for the cheaper labour and to avoid increasingly tougher environmental protection measures in China.

“We don’t believe in competing with cheap labour as we think mainland China is still a good place for textile manufacturing companies. The country has a lot of talented workers who are very productive and skilful. There are also a lot of high-quality supplies of raw materials such as cotton and silk for our production needs,” Cheh told the South China Morning Post.

“This is why we decided to keep our core textile production lines in many mainland cities and invest in a new production plant in Guilin.”