Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai said yesterday that it is unfair for the United States to impose import quotas on China's textile products and for the European Union to consider similar action.
Speaking at the 2005 Fortune Global Forum in Beijing, Bo said "some developed countries" had failed to abide by World Trade Organization rules, which partly contributed to the short-term surge in Chinese textile exports.
In 1995, the WTO asked developed countries to gradually ease their textile quota systems over the next 10 years. All such quotas were set to expire on January 1, 2005.
"But some countries didn't do that. They kept 70 to 90 percent of the most important quotas in place until the end of last year. Their activity caused the short-term rapid growth of China's textile exports in the first several months this year," said Bo.
"But now the United States and the EU blame China for the rapid growth, and tried to set restrictions on China's textile products. It's unfair."
Developed countries should not employ a "double standard" in international trade, which means asking the entire world to open markets to their industries while keeping their own markets closed in fields where they have no competitive edge, he said.
"Such activity is obviously in violation of the WTO principle of 'free and fair trade'," said Bo.
The European Union opened an investigation into 12 categories of Chinese textiles in early April.
Last Friday, the United States re-imposed quotas on Chinese-made cotton trousers, cotton knit shirts and underwear.