Top Chinese representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) has said the elimination of quota restrictions on textiles and garments from next year will bring open competition to the sector but China is against any attempt by WTO members which are trying to block China's export of textile products.

Earlier last week, the WTO agreed to eliminate quota restrictions on textiles and garments from Jan. 1, 2005.

Sun Zhenyu, Permanent Representative and Ambassador to WTO, told Xinhua on Tuesday that the elimination of the quota, which some developed countries have been enjoying for dozens of years, is an event of important and influential significance in world trade.

It is also a victory for many developing countries which had worked for years to win back the free competition environment in the sector and will thus promote trade expansion and employment opportunities, he said.

China has noticed that some related companies in the United States and the European Union are trying to persuade their governments to take trade protection measures to constrain the entrance of Chinese textile products, Sun said.

The Chinese government is resolutely against any such attempts which will be against the WTO's free trade principles and will strongly affect China's cooperation in other fields with the United States and the European Union, he said.

Sun said the Chinese market is still widely open to world textile products and China will keep on its efforts to import more products from developing countries.

He said the Chinese government always encourage Chinese textile companies to invest in other countries, especially in developing countries, and to enlarge their cooperation in the fields of investment, technology and staff training.

China will spare no effort to support the reasonable requests made by the least developed countries and the developing countries which rely mostly on the exports of textile products, said the Chinese representative.

The Chinese government urges the United States and the developed countries in Europe to improve all the trade terms they imposed on the textile products imported from the developing countries so that they can enjoy the preferential treatment.

China also urges the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and all the related international organizations to take effective measures to help developing countries to improve the competitiveness of their products, Sun added.

(Xinhua News Agency September 30, 2004)