Shanghai Daily news

China's stock markets fell to six-year low yesterday in the first day of trading after export taxes were raised on textile products in an attempt to ease growing trade tensions with Western nations.
Makers of pants and shirts were among the biggest losers.
"The increasing tariffs will serve to lower profit margins at domestic textile manufacturers," said Lu Chengde, a trader with Guosen Securities Co. "Investors unloaded these shares amid worries that even more controls may be put in place."
The Shanghai Composite Index, which covers yuan-denominated A shares and foreign-currency B shares, plunged 2.59 percent to 1,070.84, the lowest finish since May 18, 1999. The index also suffered its biggest single-day percentage loss since October 14.
The Shenzhen Composite Index, which tracks the smaller of the two markets on China's mainland, slipped 2.80 percent to 261.31, the lowest close since September 26, 1996.
The seeds of yesterday's losses were sown on January 1, when international trade quotas were removed on textile products under a World Trade Organization agreement. As Chinese goods improved on an already strong position in global markets, the United States responded by reimposing quotas on some textile products. The European Union is also pressing China to restrain the growth of its textile exports.
China has vigorously protested US actions, and has also taken steps to try to prevent further protective barricades abroad.
On Friday, China said taxes will be increased fourfold on 74 types of textile exports starting June 1.
Domestic exporters said the increase dealt a severe blow to their business and may cause some small companies to shut down.
The stock markets were similarly pessimistic.
Shares in Youngor Group Co, the nation's largest men's clothing supplier, dropped 8.33 percent yesterday to 3.52 yuan.
The Zhejiang-based firm earned 23 percent of its 2004 sales revenue overseas, according to Bloomberg News.
Fourteen out of the 30 companies that fell to the 10 percent daily trading limit on domestic bourses were textile firms.
The Textile Index, which tracks 30 listed textile companies, dropped 7.61 percent to a record low of 177. The index was benchmarked at 1,000 on April 3, 1991.
Against this alarming backdrop, a purchasing group from the United States is now in China visiting textile manufacturers.
The 150 US buyers, representing such famous brands as Calvin Klein and Rebok and each carrying an annual budget for more than US$30 million in goods, arrived in Shanghai on Sunday.
After visiting manufacturers in the city's Yangpu District Home Textile Park on Sunday, they will meet with companies in Hangzhou today followed by visits to Suzhou, Guangzhou, Shaoxing, Taicang and again Shanghai.
"About 70 percent of the buyers in the team are paying their first visit to China to meet their suppliers," said Zhou Laisheng, an official with Shanghai International Fashion Federation, organizer of the trip.
Most of the US buyers admitted the ongoing trade disputes may affect their purchasing plans, Zhou said.
But Cole Daugherty, a vice president with the Dallas Market Center, a leading textile trading center in the United States, was among the optimists in the group: "Chinese textile products will keep their competitive edge in the world market for a long time, so the demand will still be there despite short-term market disturbances."