China and the European Union (EU) reached an agreement Monday evening to resolve the stockpiles of Chinese textile products held at EU borders.

The agreement, signed by Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai and EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, will allow some 77 million textile products, including sweaters, trousers, T-shirts and bras, to enter the European market.

The deal is "fair and rational from the perspective of both key principles and minor details," Bo said.

"Sino-EU economic and trade relations are full of vigour and mutually needed, and we can achieve win-win results through exchanges and co-operation," he said.

"It is 50 to 50," Mandelson said, explaining that half of the garments would be allowed in outside quota rules on the EU's account, and half would be counted against limits for this year and next year, effectively reigning in Chinese export growth.

However, the two trade chiefs declined to elaborate on details.

This round of minister-level talks lasted about 10 hours on Sunday till 3 am on Monday morning, and restarted at 8 am Monday.

"The deal still needs to be presented to and discussed by the 25 member states of the EU," Mandelson said, adding that further discussions would be held in Europe today.

The agreement, Bo said, did not mean that the bilateral agreement signed between the two sides is unsuccessful. "It is a win-win deal."

Earlier Monday, Premier Wen Jiabao told a joint news conference that Europe and China should make joint efforts to solve the problem, which he described as "temporary."

Wen said there are bound to be disagreements in the rapidly developing trade relations. However, consultations on the basis of mutual trust and understanding will lead to solutions.

After a one-hour meeting between Premier Wen, British Prime Minister Blair and Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, who are in Beijing to attend the eighth China-EU Summit, the two sides signed six agreements on such areas as social affairs, space exploration and bio-diversity.

The leaders witnessed the signing of a 500-million-euro loan from the European Investment Bank for the expansion of Beijing airport.

President Hu Jintao also met the European guests Monday.

The two sides agreed to start talks before the end of this year on a China-EU aviation agreement, which aims to resolve outstanding legal issues in bilateral air services.

The two sides also agreed to conclude an agreement on technical co-operation in civil aviation in the coming months, according to a joint statement of the eighth China-EU Summit.

During the meeting, a Joint Declaration on Climate Change between China and the EU was also issued, which confirmed the establishment of China-EU partnership on climate change. The EU agreed to provide China with the technology to build a coal-fired power station.

On the issue of illegal immigration, Premier Wen said China is strongly opposed to it.

Wen said both China and the EU will work on combating illegal migration, and try to facilitate Chinese people to travel in Europe.

At the EU-China Business Summit, also held Monday in Beijing Premier Wen urged enterprises from China and the EU to enhance their co-operation in the service industry.

"China is striving to improve its service industry and EU companies enjoy an advantage in this sector," he said.

The two sides should also boost the growth of bilateral investment, technology co-operation, as well as co-ordination in pushing forward the Doha Development Agenda, he added.

Wen predicted that trade between China and the EU is likely to grow to US$200 billion this year, as the figure for the first half of this year has already exceeded US$100 billion.

Two-way trade between China and the European economic block was only US$2.4 billion at the beginning of the diplomatic relationship in the 1970s. The volume was US$177 billion last year. "The EU-China relationship has entered into maturity," Wen said.

Wen was echoed by the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who emphasized that it was important to solve the disputes and keep the trade increasing.

Source: China Daily