The textile agreement recently signed by the US and China has settled concerns of both sides, which has created a stable and predictable trade environment for businesses of both countries, said an official with China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) Thursday.

He said the agreement has provided some space for the US and other developing countries to adjust their textile trade structures, and gave Chinese textile enterprises bigger chances to explore markets.

The MOC official said the agreement covered altogether 21 products, involving 3.5 billion US dollars worth of textile products, or 20 percent of the US import of the China-made textile products in 2004.

The official said the agreement has greatly reduced the number of the export textile products, and will in turn benefit most Chinese export textile products with free trade treatment.

Under the agreement, the growth rates of imports from China in the coming three years will be 10-15 percent for 2006, 12.5-16 percent for 2007, and 15-17 percent for 2008, respectively, far exceeding the 7.5 percent stated in article 242, he added.

The MOC official estimated that China's market share of textile exports in the US will increase from 6.7 percent in 2004 to 19.8 percent in 2008.

Source: Xinhua