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After a subtle shift in policy focus from inflation to growth, the government raised the tax rebate on a range of textiles and garments from 11 percent to 13 percent on August 1.

Such a move will give a break to ailing clothing exporters, but it does not justify a slower pace in industrial restructuring. Chinese textile enterprises should make good use of this temporary measure to speed up their climb along the industrial value chain.

In order to slow its ballooning trade surplus growth and discourage export of energy-intensive, highly-polluting products or resource products, the country had reduced the rebate rates of the value-added tax for more than 2,800 items of products last year, including hundreds of textiles and garments.