A delegation whose members are from 8 French textile businesses in Rhone began their visit in China on June 14, three days after the Sino-EU agreement on textile trade was reached on June 11. Mr. Claude Tetard, President of French textile association UFIH, is in the delegation.

ZILLI, a premium French brand for men's garment, is one of the 8. Benoitde Valicourt with ZILLI said his company would open its second outlet in China in Shanghai soon following the first one in Macao. They are seeking for a proper partner now. He saw their China plan go smoothly.

European textile producers for the high-end market are eyeing and ready to flock into the Chinese market, while their Chinese peers are struggling to survive in the European market with their low-market exports.

The avoidance of a trade war through the consensus between China and EU gives a spur to French companies' aspiration for their China strategy.

Anne Manuele Hebert with Eurovet remarked that French companies were generally thinking of either tapping the Chinese market or seeking for partnership with China.

Mr. Tetard said France expected to export a lot of textiles and 30 percent of their exports went to China last year. He valued the limitless opportunities brought about by the opening of China market more than resumption of textile quotas, due to the higher purchasing power parity from some 175 million potential consumers in China than that from the 3 million wealthiest French population.

He added that each French apparel business had observed the fast rise of the consumer market for high-market branded clothing in China.

By People's Daily Online