Two associations representing China's textile producers and exporters have welcomed the textile agreement reached between China and the European Union on Saturday.
Sun Huaibin, spokesman for the China Textile Industry Council, said on Saturday that the deal will ensure a relatively stable trade environment in Europe for Chinese textile goods.
The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textile also applauded the deal, saying it will create a positive, stable and predictable trade environment for both Chinese and European companies. The chamber of commerce also said that the agreement will help China's textile exports to Europe grow at a measured pace.
According to the deal, which was struck in Shanghai between Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai and visiting EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, the EU has agreed to stop investigations on 10 categories of textile products from China.
China and the EU also agreed that the annual growth rates of exports to the European market for the ten lines of Chinese products will be controlled between 8 percent and 12.5 percent during June 11, 2005 to the end of 2007.
The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textile said both China and the EU have agreed to resolve future textile trade issues through "consultations", which set a good precedent of solving textile trade disputes under the new global situation.
Such an approach is of great significance for global textile and garment sectors in their transition to a new trade situation, the chamber said in a statement.
"We have also noticed EU's positive approach on China-EU textile issues, and we hope EU will continue to move forward along the path of textile trade liberalization," said the chamber.
The chamber also urged Chinese textile firms to further improve their international competitiveness and industrial self-discipline to avoid trade disputes and strengthen their cooperation with their EU counterparts.