China and the US will resume their negotiations on textiles, the fourth of such kind, at 9:00 AM Tuesday, according to the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) Monday.

It will be a "closed-door" meeting, sources with the ministry said.

The sources said the level of the negotiation will be higher, while the former negotiations were held among "directors."

"This means that the two sides might reach agreement at this round of talks," analysts said.

The two countries failed to reach any agreement in the third round, which ended in San Francisco on August 17, the MOFCOM said Saturday.

After that, an official with the ministry said the two countries still have "substantial differences" in some matters of principle concerning the issue, and agreed to continue consultations to seek solutions to the problem.

This is meant to create an environment for the steady development of bilateral textile trade, the official said.

So far, some 20 kinds of Chinese textile products have been put under US restrictions or are undergoing restriction-related investigations.

According to WTO rules, the US has to make a final decision on imposing restrictions on six categories of Chinese textile products before August 31.

China and the US held their first round of talks on the textile issue on June 17 and the second round on July 8.

(Xinhua News Agency August 30, 2005)