The organizers of the China Export Commodities Fair in
Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, said the
value of garment transactions declined about 10 percent compared to
the previous event, with textile export deals to the US falling 44
percent.
Xu Bing, a spokesperson for the fair, which ended on Sunday
after running for half a month, said the value of all deals struck
at the event, including non-textile transactions, grew 0.7
percent.
The garment trade value at the fair stood at US$2.46 billion,
8.4 percent of the total trade value. It was 10.1 percent less than
the previous session and 13.8 percent less than the one before
that.
Clothing transactions with the US totaled US$310 million at the
fair, and clothing exports to Europe totaled US$1.08 billion, down
6.9 percent on the previous event.
With talks on Sino-US textile trade disputes pending, many
manufacturers and purchasers were cautious about signing contracts,
according to the organizer, but trade in textile raw materials
increased slightly since they were not affected by the quotas.
Electrical and mechanical products remained the major
commodities traded at the fair, with US$12.25 billion worth of
deals signed, almost 41.6 percent of the total trade volume.
The fair, a biannual event launched in 1957, is regarded by many
as a bellwether for the country's foreign trade. Each event has two
phases: one for manufactured goods, textiles and garments,
foodstuffs and medicine, and one for souvenirs, gifts and everyday
commodities.
(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2005)