Huajian, one of the largest shoe exporters in China, is planning a multi-million-dollar factory expansion in Ethiopia  to benefit from preferential trade tariffs and lower labor costs.

The company, which makes women shoes for global brands such as, Tommy Hilfiger, Guess, Naturalizer, Clarkes and others opened its factory at a purpose-built industrial zone on the outskirts of Addis Ababa a year ago.

The company has launched new line of injection-molded shoes several hundred more workers to the 1,750 Huajian already employs in Ethiopia, where the leather industry is well established, but unemployment is rife.

Huajian has also signed an agreement with the China Africa Development Fund, a private equity fund owned by China Development Bank, to invest jointly USD 2 billion over 10 years in developing manufacturing clusters focused on shoe-making in Ethiopia, Helen Hai, manager who runs the company's plant in Ethiopia told the Financial Times.

Source: Financial Times