Chinese and European Union trade officials held technical-level consultations in Beijing on Thursday, to resolve the Chinese textile imports issue, the Ministry of Commerce said.

Both Lu Jianhua, director of the Foreign Trade Department, and Fritz-Harald Wenig, head of the EU trade team, had "earnest negotiations" over the issue, the ministry said in a statement late on Thursday.

Lu expressed China's concern over the textile products stuck at customs at EU ports, while Wenig highlighted that the over-quota products are not in the interests of EU traders and consumers.

China's textile exports to the EU were valued at US$2.1 billion in June when the two sides signed a textile memorandum of understanding, up 85 percent year-on-year, the ministry said.

This was vastly different from the sharp decline in exports in April and May following the EU's move to impose restrictions.

China and the EU reached an agreement in June, setting new quotas on ten categories of textile products from China. But the quotas were quickly used up because many EU importers and retailers had bulk-ordered goods from China months before the new quotas kicked in.

(Xinhua News Agency August 26, 2005)