European trade chief Peter Mandelson looks on after a news conference outside a hotel in Beijing September 4, 2005. (newsphoto)

China and the European Union (EU) early this morning were still discussing an agreement to solve the problem concerning millions of items of China-made textile products being blocked in the ports of EU countries.

Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai and EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson were still talking at the time of press.

Mandelson, who arrived in Beijing on Saturday for a summit of Chinese and EU leaders scheduled for today, began the talks with Bo at about 10 am yesterday.

Before leaving Brussels for Beijing, Mandelson called on EU member states to take quick actions to unblock stockpiled Chinese clothes for the interest of Europe.

The impasse between China and the EU over the blocked textile products has left stores in EU countries short of seasonal clothes to sell.

Some 80 million items of Chinese clothing have been prevented from entering the EU market because quotas stipulated in an earlier bilateral agreement were already used up.

An accord is expected to clear the way for those fabrics and garments to reach EU consumers.

China and the EU signed a deal in June to curb the growth of China's textile exports to EU before 2008.

But Nordic nations and Germany, under pressure of supply shortages, have demanded swift release of the impounded goods.

However, countries with big textile industries such as France and Italy took a hard line in implementing quotas stipulated for the two-and-half-year period.

Yesterday's effort came ahead of the annual China-EU Summit, which is to be held today in Beijing.

The EU side has shown clear desire to solve the issue before the China-EU Summit.

"It is important for the world to understand that the European Union and China are able to solve the problem in a constructive, positive way," said Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission.

He made the remark during a meeting with the press yesterday as the discussion on the textile dispute was being held.

He described the problem that erupted after the June agreement as "exceptional."

Nobody predicted the problem, which created difficulties for some EU members in implementing the agreement, he said.

But he said that the issue should "once again show the world that we (China and the EU) can manage the issue by the spirit of harmony and understanding."

Barroso said the June agreement created a breathing space (for EU textile industry) by slowing the dramatic and sudden increase in the imports to Europe.

In his previous meetings with Chinese leaders, he said that Europeans should look at China's extraordinary economic growth as a real opportunity.

"But for that, we need to address and solve problems when they appear so they don't undermine the positive evolution."

(China Daily)