France's Pascal Lamy, top candidate for the head of the World Trade Organization (WTO), has urged the European Union (EU), as well as the United States, to ease textile competition against China and other developing countries.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, the former EU trade chief expressed surprise at the current EU-China dispute over the surge of textile imports from China.

The WTO had long ago worked out principles governing both scrapping the quota system for China's textiles and measures to be taken by importing countries, he noted. The disputes were much anticipated and should have been warded off by necessary measures taken in advance, said Lamy.

The EU held a seminar as far back as in 2003 on post-2005 textile trade to brace itself for a non-quota system era, Lamy said.

At the seminar, top wholesalers like Wal-Mart of the United States and Carrefour of France vowed to seize the opportunity to buy cheaper textiles from developing countries, he pointed out.

Last month, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, threatened to launch investigations into at least 10 categories of Chinese textiles, saying they may have disrupted the European market since the expiration of a global quota system on Jan. 1.

China is opposed to the restriction, saying it runs against "the spirit of free trade which is always promoted by the EU and seriously violates conditions delineated in legal documents for China's WTO admission."

On April 15, Lamy emerged the top candidate to head the WTO after the first round of consultations among members, followed by the foreign minister of Mauritius, Jayen Krishna Cuttaree, and Uruguay's former ambassador to the WTO, Carlos Perez del Castillo.

The Brazilian candidate, Luiz Felipe de Seixas Correa, stood last among the four hopefuls.