China's share of US textile market to hit 19.8pc by 2008
Afp, Beijing
A new Sino-US textile pact is expected to boost the market share of Chinese textile products in the United States to 19.8 percent by 2008 from 6.7 percent in 2004, China's Commerce Ministry said Thursday. In a statement on its website, an unnamed ministry official said China's market share in the US market will reach 15 percent in 2006, 17.1 percent in 2007 and 19.8 percent in 2008 under growth rates agreed to in the Sino-US textile pact. Under the deal signed last month, China and the United States agreed to limit exports of Chinese textile products under 21 categories to growth rates of 10-17 percent from 2006-2008. Since the scrapping of a global textile quota on China at the beginning of this year, China's textile exports to the United States and the EU have surged, triggering trade frictions. China and the EU reached a deal in June, agreeing to export growth rates of 8-12.5 percent for Chinese textile products until 2007. The ministry official also said the market share of Chinese cotton knit shirts will grow to 7.7 percent by 2008 from 0.9 percent in 2004. Chinese cotton trousers will also increase their market share to 17 percent by 2008 from 1.5 percent in 2004, the official said.
| 
