Textile manufacturing is returning to U.S.

Reporters: Gao Junya and Wang Xiaoyu

A Chinese textile manufacturing company in the US southeast is being held-up as an example of how Chinese investment is helping create US jobs. Listen to the show and find out more. 

A female worker in Keer's textile factory in Lancaster County, South Carolina[Photo: Xinhua]

Lancaster, South Carolina, used to be the center of the US textile industry.

It is strategically located in the cotton-producing region of South Carolina, and also has access Charleston, one of the largest ports in the US.

However, in the late 1990s, the textile industry in the region began to collapse, putting hundreds of people out of work.

But that trend is starting to change, thanks in part to Chinese investment.

Chinese textile manufacturer Keer established a yarn factory in Lancaster in 2013.

It's manufacturing lines can now produce 30-thousand tons of yarn a year, and employs 180 local workers.

Keer's second factory in Lancaster broke ground last month, and is expected to create more than 500 jobs.

Jamie Gilbert is the director of economic development for Lancaster County.

"Keer was expecting to create over a 7 year period about 500 new jobs, that is a significant number of manufacturing jobs, actually 500 jobs will make Keer the second largest manufacturer in Lancaster county. Plus, you are talking about an investment over 250 million dollars, it is a significant investment here."

Huang Guogang is an executive with Keer's parent company in China.

He says on-top of helping develop local jobs, the cost-benefit analysis made sense for the company to locate their operations in Lancaster.

"The foremost reason we came here is the cost. The cotton is cheaper here. Plus, the price of electricity and land, capital costs, and tax are lower than in China. Even though the construction costs and labor prices are higher, our overall costs ARE still lower than in China."

Beyond the savings, being able to slap the "Made in the USA" label on the products gives Keer more cache on the international market.

Jamie Gilbert with Lancaster County says he hopes more companies will follow Keer's lead and find a home in their region.

"By Keer's investment and creating jobs here, what we are seeing is intros from other Chinese manufactures that are looking to expand to US, so I think it is a great opportunity to attract additional Chinese business to our community."

Chinese investment into the US has been on a significant increase.

Direct Chinese investment into the US market last year hit 45.6-billion US dollars, three-times the figure from 2015.