Textile production to remain strong

China's textile industry is expected to continue growing strongly and has been largely unaffected by the government's efforts to cool the economy, according to the country's biggest cotton textile producer.

"Those macroeconomic measures haven't affected us," said Zhang Bo, chairman of Weiqiao Textile Co., noting that China's textile industry grew 15 percent year on year in the first six months of this year.

That growth, he said, was achieved despite the government's measures to curb excessive investment in several sectors of the economy.

Zhang said the textile industry has considerable scope for expansion in the coming years, spurred by domestic demand and the removal of global textile quotas from next year by the World Trade Organization.

The quota system, officially known as the Multifiber Agreement, has been in effect since 1974 and has been used to regulate the US$350 billion world trade in garments.

"Our exports to the United States and the European Union will definitely increase next year on the expiry of the quota system," said Zhang, adding that the company's production volume nearly doubled in the first half of this year on the expected rise in demand.

(Shenzhen Daily-Agencies)