BEIJING, Aug. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese and European Union (EU) trade officials were seeking ways to resolve the issue of Chinese textile exports at their technical-level consultations here on Thursday, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce said.

    Both Lu Jianhua, director of the Foreign Trade Department of China's Ministry of Commerce, and Fritz-Harald Wenig, head of the European trade team had "earnest negotiations" over the issue, theministry said in a statement late Thursday.

    The Chinese side expressed its concern over the textile products blocked at the customs in EU countries, while the EU sidesaid the products stranded are not in the interests of EU traders and consumers.

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

    This represents a reverse of a sharp decline of textile exportsin April and May following the EU's move to curb Chinese exports.

    However, some clothing items shipped from China to Europe in excess of their quotas have been blocked at the customs in some European countries, and both sides are working hard for a solutionto the issue.

    China and the EU reached an agreement in June, setting new quotas on ten categories of textile products from China. But the quotas have been filled rapidly as many EU importers and retailershad ordered large quantities of goods from China several months before the new quotas were set. Enditem