EU textile deal won't affect 2006 exports
(AFX)
Updated: 2005-09-21 07:27

BEIJING - China's textile deal with the European Union will not affect next year's exports to the continent, Commerce Minister Bo Xilai said in an interview published on the ministry's website. AFX reported.

Bo said the number of garments to be added to next year's quota is 'quite small' but added that the textile agreement was fair and satisfactory to both China and the EU.

Earlier this month, the two trade partners reached an agreement allowing millions of Chinese textile products, which had exceeded EU import quotas for the year, to be released from customs at various European ports.

Under the terms of the agreement, half of the textile goods being held in customs will enter EU markets while the other half will be added to China's textile quota for next year.

Bo said the textiles to be added to next year's quotas, including pullovers, trousers and bras, merely account for three pct of their combined export quotas for next year and represent an even smaller 1.7 pct of the total 2006 export quotas of the seven categories of Chinese textile products stranded in European ports before the Sino-EU talks.

The seven categories of textiles have total export quotas of 1.4 bln units next year, according to a deal by China and the EU agreed in June.

As a final result, an extra 140 mln Chinese textile products entered the EU market, in a favorable outcome for Chinese textile producers, the commerce minister added.

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