Head of a policy research group of the State Administration of Taxation Zhang Peisen said Friday's move by the Chinese government to raise textile export tariffs was intended to enable its textile sector to readjust their export strategy by improving business revenues.

Zhang said the move also represents a clear message sent by the Chinese government to slow down its export of textile goods, he said in an interview Monday.

Chinese textile producers should introduce more advanced technology for increased added value, instead of relying on the production of mainly cheap and low-end textile goods, he said.

China is rich in labor resources as well as raw materials for textile sector, including cotton and chemical fiber. There is great potential for China to improve its textile technology, he said.

China's textile sector experienced marked technological improvement in recent years due to the transfer of textile technology from overseas to China, but it still lags behind the Republic of Korea, he said.

On the restriction by the United States on imports of selected textile products, He said it is unfair for the United States and European Union to blame China for the fast influx of Chinese-made textiles into their markets.

"I doubt the figures released by the United States on their imports of Chinese textile goods during the past four months, and their moves are simply not justified as they run against free competition," he said.

China announced Friday it would raise the export tariffs on 74 textile products, with a 400-percent hike for most of the products on a quantitative basis, beginning June 1, 2005. That means the tariffs on each piece of the export textile or clothing product would increase from 0.2 yuan (2.4 US cents) to 1 yuan (12 US cents). But the new export tariffs for women's cotton overcoat and mantle would be 4 yuan (48 US cents), compared with the current 0.3 yuan (3.6 US cents), according to the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council, China's cabinet.

The tariff hike was announced in the wake of a United States decision last week to re-impose restrictions on seven kinds of China textile and clothing imports. The European Union is also pressuring China to take stricter measures to curb textile exports to the European market.

Source: Xinhua