China’s leather industry, which includes the leather, footwear, leather garments, bags and cases sectors, recorded exports worth $32.75 billion and imports of $6.41 billion between January and May 2026. Exports declined 6.6% YoY basis while imports increased 3.2%, according to data released by the China Leather Industry Association (CLIA).

If May 2026 is viewed separately, China’s leather industry exported approximately $7.35 billion worth of leather, footwear, leather garments, bags and cases and imported around $1.26 billion during the month.

The overall export data shows a mixed trade performance across the industry, with exports remaining under pressure in key segments while leather garments continued to record strong growth.

The footwear segment remained the largest contributor to overall exports. However, export value declined during the January to May period, continuing the weaker trend seen earlier in the year.

The bags and cases segment also recorded a decline in exports, while imports increased during the same period.

Leather garments continued to stand out as the only major segment to register strong export growth, with exports increasing significantly compared with the same period last year.

The tanning and raw materials segment showed mixed movement, with raw hide and skin imports increasing in volume while semi-finished and finished leather imports declined.

Overall, the data indicates a 6.6% slowdown in China’s leather export performance during the first 5 months of 2026, even as different segments of the industry continued to show varying trends in exports and imports.

Leathernews.org will publish separate reports covering the January-May 2026 performance of China’s tanning, footwear, leather garment and bags and cases industries.

Note: May 2026 overall industry figures were calculated by the Leathernews.org team by subtracting the January-April 2026 figures from the January-May 2026 figures reported by the China Leather Industry Association.