The Chinese government on Thursday expressed firm opposition to the US government's acceptance of an application to limit imports of Chinese chemical fiber and cotton items, said a spokesman with the Ministry of Commerce.

The US textile industry submitted the application Wednesday, accusing Chinese textile goods of posing a threat to US market order.

"The Chinese government strongly opposes the US government's decision and reserves the right to take further actions under the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO)," Spokesman Chong Quan said in a statement.

The decision violates conditions delineated in legal documents for China's WTO admission and US domestic rules on the procedure, Chong said, noting that it also runs against to the WTO's principles of liberalization of free trade and free textile trade.

"This will severely frustrate the Chinese confidence in the international trade environment after its WTO accession, and also harm the interests of US cotton growers, textile consumers, importers, fabric machinery makers and US investors in China," Chong warned.

(Xinhua News Agency November 5, 2004)