Search China Travel News:

European Union (EU) trade commissioner Peter Mandelson said on Monday he has tabled to the EU member states proposals to unblock the Chinese textile imports stockpiles in major European ports.

"I have set in motion procedures to unblock the goods," Mandelson told a news conference held at the European Commission, pledging efforts to release millions of items of Chinese clothing blocked at the doorstep of Europe because the newly-set quota has run out.

Mandelson declined to give details of his plans to release the goods, but he hoped the EU member states would quickly approve his latest proposals.

"There is no reason for blocking them... The goods will be unblocked," he stressed.

Mandelson said the negotiations with the Chinese side "so far have not produced a mutually satisfactory solution," adding that the talks would continue in the future.

He said that the EU member states, China and textile retailers should take responsibility for the current stockpiles, but "no one in particular is to blame" for the deadlock.

The EU and China agreed in June in Shanghai to limit the trade growth of 10 clothing categories from sweaters to brassieres to about 10 percent after textile manufacturers in France, Italy and Spain complained that the end of a global quota system on Jan. 1 had made the imports of Chinese clothing into Europe surging, throwing their local businesses into turmoil.

However, the new limit has blocked piles of Chinese clothing which were imported before June by European wholesalers and retailers at the doorstep of the EU countries, causing an outcry from the local importers.

Mandelson defended the Shanghai agreement, saying there is no " better alternative" to replace it.