China deserves free textile trading in the process of global textile integration, said Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai early Saturday morning at a press conference in Shanghai.

"China's right to a free textile trade is fully justified, just as our rights in the service trade and agricultural sector as having been made clear upon China's accession into the World Trade Organization three years ago," said Bo immediately after more than 10 hours of marathon talks with visiting European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson.

The Chinese minister also defined the Sino-EU agreement reached during the talks as an endeavor to "provide a sound development environment for Chinese textile enterprises as well as allow the European manufacturers a grace period to smoothly adapt themselves to the Chinese textile imports."

China and EU reached a deal to manage the growth of Chinese textile exports to the EU in the coming three years, announced EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson earlier at the press conference.

"It is the first time in history that a developing country has gained such a rapid export growth in its developed peers," said Bo, who attributed the alleged surge of Chinese textile exports to EU's lateness in familiarizing its market with a quota-free environment arising from the elimination of global textile quotas at the beginning of the year.

Bo also expressed his appreciation of EU's sincerity in settling the Sino-EU trade dispute through "dialogue and consultation," which he said has constituted a sharp contrast to "certain countries' one-sided action" in handling similar problems.

The challenges posed by the Chinese textile products to the EU market are "positive" and would likely help sharpen EU enterprises' competitive edge in this regard, said the Chinese minister, emphasizing that the Sino-EU strategic partnership is not "merely an empty talk."

Mandelson also lauded the Saturday agreement as "a significant demonstration that China is entering the global economy as a responsible and valuable partner."

"China is entitled to reap the legitimate benefits and its comparative advantages of its WTO position, while managing its integration into the global economy in a way that avoids fears of China, and a way that does not provoke protectionist backlash of the European enterprises and general public," said Mandelson, who called himself a firm advocate of free trade.

He also praised the way in which Chinese government had responded to EU's concerns on the matter.

"I think all these go very well for our future relationship," said Mandelson, who received a Chinese-made T-shirt from Bo as a special gift marking the cynosural talks.

Source: Xinhua