Related Event: Textile Quota Elimination

Experts in Shanghai said the long talk shows the sincerity and willingness of two sides on resolving the issue through negotiation.

Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai began talks at around 2:00 pm this afternoon with the EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson. Bo has told reporters earlier that both sides were very "frank" in the conversation and still discussing "technical specifics".

Zhao Yumin, an expert with the International Trade and Economic Institute of the Ministry of Commerce, said that two sides have to

agree on making detailed arrangements for the guideline on safeguard measures proposed by EU earlier. Conflicts are likely to emerge and therefore the discussion takes time.

Mandelson arrived at Shanghai Thursday afternoon. Earlier this week, he rejected a return to the quota system for textiles, saying his policy is based on the need to "manage change and adjustment, rather than to manage trade" -- preferably through a negotiated agreement.

The EU, which claimed that textiles imports from China have substantially increased this year after the elimination of global quota on Jan. 1, 2005, announced late last month to take safeguard measures against some textile imports from China.