|
BEIJING, June 4 (Xinhuanet) --
Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai held talks with his US counterpart Carlos
Gutierrez here Saturday to explore for the solution to the Sino-US textile trade
friction which reports said will cause 100,000 job cut in Chinese factories.
The two ministers also discussed intellectual
property right protection, US trade deficit with China and the preparation work
for the upcoming sixteenth meeting of Sino-US joint commission of commerce and
trade, but mostly focus on the textile issue, sourcessaid.
"Sino-US trade witnessed such great progress in the
last 26 or 27 years and we two countries should have the capability to properly
deal with the textile trade issue and other questions," Bo said after the talks,
which lasted three quarters longer than the scheduled one hour.
"China has become the third largest trade partner of
the United States and it's natural for some problems to emerge in such a
developing progress," Bo said. "We exchanged our points on the textile issue
frankly and in a systematic manner during the talks."
The US government decided to restrict Chinese textile
and clothing imports earlier this year, months after such quota was eliminated
worldwide on Jan. 1, according to World Trade Organization agreements.
Such limitation sparked anger among Chinese textile
and clothing industry. Reports said that will cause about 100,000 job cut in
Chinese factories.
As one of the world's major textile and clothing
provider, Chinese textile industry has a 19 million employment and even morein
relevant sectors, according to Bo Xilai. Most of the factories were of
low-profit and workers were low-paid but rely on the job to raise their
families.
Gutierrez said it's a "good meeting", but he did not
elaborate what will US do to settle the textile issue.
The United States "understands the frustration" China
and Chinese industry feel on the textile issue and hopes it will not hurt the
bilateral relations between the two sides, he said at the beginning of the
meeting. Enditem |