DHAKA, Oct. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- European and North American buyers are shifting to Bangladesh from China due to US restriction on Chinese textile exports, exporters said.

    "In last couple of months, we received a number of orders from some EU and US buyers who earlier contacted Chinese exporters," Fazlul Haque, President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters' Association (BKMEA), was quoted by The Independent as saying on Friday.

    The daily quoted a recent International Labour Organization ILO)report as saying that Bangladesh remains on the list of top suppliers of textile and clothing for European and North American buyers.

    "Bangladesh benefits from duty-free access to the European Union,with more generous rules of origin in sight," the ILO reportsaid, adding that Bangladesh's apparel exports were far from declining in the first half of the post-quota regime, although it faced strong competition from China and India.

    Knitwear export registered a 169 percent growth and over 18 percent in the US market during the first six months in the quota-free regime compared to the corresponding period of the last year.

    "Apparel export of Bangladesh will increase further due to United States' recent restrictions imposed on Chinese textile export," Annisul Haque, President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters' Association (BGMEA) was quoted as saying.

    Since global quotas were scrapped on Jan. 1 this year, the United States has set limits on nine categories of textile products imported from China, saying that the surge of textile products imported from China disturbed the US market.

    The US movement has cost China's textile sector dearly. The export volume of Chinese textile products to the United States hasreduced at least 2 to 3 billion US dollars since January, the daily reported. Enditem