EU to lift Chinese textile quotas by year end: Official

BEIJING: The European Union (EU), China's top trading partner, will lift the quotas of 10 categories of textile imported from the communist country from next year, the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) announced here on Sunday.
    
According to a memorandum signed by the two parties, the EU will lift quotas on China's textile exports to the EU starting from 1st January 2008, vice minister of commerce, Gao Hucheng was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
    
Following a so-called 'textile war', the two parties reached an agreement in June 2005 on resuming quotas on China's textile exports to the EU, which expires at the end of 2007.
    
On September 28, 2007, the two parties agreed to set up a bilateral monitoring system to monitor Chinese exports of T-shirts, pullovers, men's trousers, blouses, dresses, bras, bed linen and flax yarn after the lift of the quotas.
    
Meanwhile, China and EU will implement export license administration and automatic import license respectively, without quantity restrictions, the report said.
    
Gao urged Chinese textile producers to nurture more home brands, optimise their product structure and narrow up the gap with international competitors through international exchanges and cooperation.