Chinese textile ind welcomes EU pact

China's two leading industry associations have welcomed the key textile agreement reached during the weekend between China and the European Union (EU) to ensure a stable environment.

Spokesman for the China Textile Industry Council, Sun Huaibin said 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 yesterday 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 eight 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.