The recent Sino-US textile agreement has cleared the way for trade and butressed stability in the trade environment, a spokesman for the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles (CCCT) said after China and the United States reached the agreement Tuesday.

After seven rounds of talks that lasted half a year, China and the United States Tuesday agreed to limit Chinese exports of textile products to the US market until the end of 2008, instead of 2007.

The deal will create a stable and predictable trade environment for Sino-US textile trade, strengthen the confidence and determination of textile traders and promote the healthy and sustainable development of Sino-US textile trade, the CCCT said.

According to the agreement, a total of 21 types of clothing and textiles have been placed under the import restrictions, including cotton trousers.

The agreement provides for a progressive increase in imports of major textile and apparel products from China -- by 10 to 15 percent in 2006, 12.5 to 16 percent in 2007, and 15 to 17 percent in 2008.

Imports from the previous year would be used as the base number to calculate the growth rate. As part of the agreement, the United States committed to granting customs clearance to all Chinese textile products currently blocked at the American ports.

In the meantime, the US also agreed to refrain from limits on textile products not covered by the agreement.

The agreement showed that the Chinese government safeguarded and protected the interests of its domestic textile exporters to the greatest extent possible, the CCCT said.

Domestic exporters should have an eye to the overall and long-term situation to promote common development and prosperity in accordance with the principle of mutual benefit, the CCCT said.

Chinese firms should also improve their international competence and enhance self-discipline to realize orderly growth, it advised.

Source: Xinhua