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China-US textile talks make progress
By Jiang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-08-19 06:00
China and the United States have made progress in talks to reach a comprehensive agreement on textile trade at a two-day conference in San Francisco - and a new round of negotiations is expected soon.
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| Chinese workers arrange clothes in a textile company in Huaibei in east China's Anhui province August 17, 2005. [newsphoto] |
The two sides agreed to continue consultations to find a mutually satisfactory solution after each party explained its stance, commerce ministry's spokesperson Chong Quan said yesterday, adding that some substantial differences still remain.
The US Trade Representative's Chief Textile Negotiator David Spooner was quoted by Reuters as saying that the latest talks, on August 16 and 17, were productive and had gone very well.
"Both sides are eager to solve this problem but both sides also say they would rather take a little longer to get a good deal rather than easily reach a bad deal," Spooner said. "We hope to finish in one more meeting but will have more meetings if that is what it takes."
The two sides are expected to kick off a new round of talks in Beijing before the end of this month, when the US Government is scheduled to decide whether to launch additional safeguard measures against Chinese textile and apparel products.
China's domestic textile industry is cheered by the progress of the talks; and expects a satisfactory outcome.
"We hope that a deal is reached in order to create a clear trade environment for textile traders both at home and abroad," said Cao Xinyu, vice-chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Textile.
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