SINGAPORE, May 16 (Xinhuanet) -- Chris Patten, the European Union commissioner, said here Monday that the United States and the European Union have no grounds for complaining about the surge in China's textile exports.

    "It's interesting that it is China which has been able to take the greatest advantage of the scrapping of quotas in the textile business," Channel NewsAsia quoted Patten as saying.

    The United States and the European Union said that China's increased textile export since the abolishment of the worldwide quota system on certain textile products on Jan. 1 this year has disrupted the market order of other countries.

    China, on the other hand, denied the allegation, saying that the United States and the European Union violated the rules of the World Trade Organization by imposing restriction to curb China's textile exports.

    Speaking at a regional trade exhibition held here, Patten noted that as a result of economic development, China and India will eventually play a leading role in the world alongside the United States.

    He also urged the integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), such as developing a proper market and a customs union, so as to be much stronger in the competition with China and India. Enditem