Q&A on Measures Being Taken to Secure the Development of the Chinese Textile Industry

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has announced new textile export limitations (in Chinese) that it says will help to maximize the potential future development of the textile industry. Presumably MOFCOM is seeking to head off the imposition of significant safeguards against its textile industry, which is predicted to take the developed world's textile and apparel markets by storm when global textile quotas end on January 1. China's textile industry can still face quantitative limits because it agreed to allow other WTO members to assert a textile safeguard against Chinese textile exporters. As the Chinese industry has done in other areas with Chinese government encouragement, these export limitations will provide an opportunity to generate outbound investment by China’s textile sector’s most competitive firms, improve brand recognition for Chinese apparel brands, and demonstrate Chinese manufacturing prowess as the owners of factories outside China. The New York Times is also covering this story.