If the preliminary meetings between CLIA, CEC, and the relative sponsors were to have a positive outcome, finally the WFC would be hosted in a country that, by every right, is the worldwide leader of the footwear industry, considering it is the firs producer, exporter and consumer of footwear in the world.

After Brussels, chosen because it is also the headquarters of the CEC, and after Logroño in Spain, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, and León in Mexico, where the last 2014 edition was held, finally a WFC in China would recognize the importance of the role played by this country on a global level for the industry. An official recognition, which is late in coming, because of the tensions created by the first steps of globalization taken in countries that boast of a longstanding tradition in footwear manufacturing.

Notwithstanding the fact that the problems of globalization are far from being resolved, the time is ripe for holding the WFC in China: it seems that finally the rebuke of Zhang Shuhua, the former Vice President of CLIA, to the WFC of Logroño, has been heeded: “China must not be perceived as a threat, but as an opportunity. Each footwear industry can cut out its very own role in the global world”.

Although Chinese footwear still enjoys a number of economic advantages derived from its pricing, the much disputed practices of dumping have been put into perspective and many of the problems that were attributed in the past to its leather goods and footwear industry – like a lack of respect for workers’ rights, unfriendly environmental practices, etc. – have set into a motion a great revolution in the development of new productive processes. Certainly, there is still much that must be done, but by now China has started down this path and, along with its quantities, today the focus is also on quality. In every field.