A senior textile industry official said that China is seeking talks with the EU and US to ease their concerns over the surge in textile exports since the abolition of quotas on January 1, according to Xinhua News Agency.

Wang Shenyang, chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Textiles (CCCT), said that a delegation would soon be sent to Washington and Brussels to ward off possible restrictions.

He said he expected the US and EU to improve communications and find solutions, rather than make swift decisions that would block free trade.

Wang urged importing countries to be patient, saying that China is working responsibly to moderate its textile exports.

An EU delegation set out for Beijing yesterday to discuss their concerns with the Chinese side.

European Commission spokesperson Claude Veron-Reville said at a press conference on Friday that, for the time being, they do not have credible data from member states on Chinese textile imports since the start of the year.

The Chinese government implemented an export tax and new regulations on issuing export licenses in an effort to ensure controlled growth, and the industry has said that it will study a mechanism to guarantee that exports will not be sold at unfair prices.

Despite this, the value of Chinese textile exports to the US surged 65 percent year-on-year in January to US$1.4 billion, and shipments to the EU jumped 46 percent to US$1.5 billion.

The rise triggered calls from textile-importing nations for new limits to be imposed to protect their domestic industries

US and EU manufacturers had already called for curbs, and the recently released figures have only served to intensify their worries.

The American Manufacturing Trade Action Committee, which represents US textile companies, called on March 11 for measures to limit imports of trousers, shirts and other items.

On the same day, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson also said industry leaders had expressed concerns over the rise in Chinese clothing exports.

He said the EU would take "appropriate action at the appropriate time" to stem any surge in shipments.

According to WTO rules, safeguard measures can be applied on imports only when there is evidence that they cause market disruption.

But Wang said it would be too hasty for the EU and US to decide to implement safeguard measures.

"It is inappropriate to make the decision based on statistics from a single month," Wang said. "Exports are likely to abate after the initial surge."

China saw explosive growth in some textile categories whose quotas were removed in 2002, but the growth rate slowed in 2003 and stabilized in 2004, he said.

Meanwhile, the surge could be explained by other factors, including the extent to which the quota system had previously distorted trade flows, he said.

That exports of underpants to the US witnessed an eight-fold year-on-year increase in January is cited to justify US manufacturers' worries.

But, according to Chinese exporters, they suffered from unfair treatment in the quota era. Despite being a major exporter, China was given a quota of 5.5 million dozen by the US, compared to 7.82 million for Bangladesh and 10.18 million for Vietnam. 

US retailers and other importers pointed out that imports from many other countries, such as Jordan and El Salvador, also soared in January.

(China Daily March 15, 2005)