The minister of commerce said on Wednesday that the government is "deeply concerned" about recent Turkish restrictions on imports of Chinese textiles, and the textile industry "dissatisfied" with the action.

"All WTO members shoulder responsibility to safeguard the elimination of quotas in the textile trade, which is the fruit of years of talks," said Bo Xilai.

Bo told Abdullah Gul, the Turkish deputy prime minister and foreign minister, that China is willing to enhance cooperation with developing countries, including Turkey, in the textile industry to encourage mutual development.

Turkey initiated special safeguard measures on December 23 to limit imports of 42 categories of Chinese textiles, saying they were disrupting the market, a week before textile trade quotas were eliminated worldwide through WTO agreements.

However, Gul said Turkey, whose textile industry also enjoys strong growth, has "no hostility" towards China on the issue and that he was "very optimistic" about solving the situation soon through talks.

"Trade problems between Turkey and China can be settled by stepping up bilateral economic and trade cooperation," Gul said, noting that they can jointly seek business opportunities in tourism and reconstruction projects in Iraq.

"The government also encourages Chinese enterprises to invest in Turkey and further increase cooperation in labor services, contract projects and tourism," Bo said.

Gul arrived in Beijing on Tuesday as guest of Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing. He will also travel to Shanghai during his five-day trip, accompanied by officials and entrepreneurs.

Sino-Turkish trade topped US$3.4 billion in 2004, up about 30 percent year-on-year. China mainly exports machinery and electronic products, textiles and chemical products to Turkey and imports metallic products and mineral ores.

(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2005)