China could be forced to soften its position in WTO textile quota negotiations as other countries plan ways to head off a flood of cheap Chinese imports, the head of a Turkish textile exporters group said. Under the terms of a World Trade Organisation agreement, quotas are set to disappear at midnight on December 31, putting clothes and textiles on the same footing as other goods.
China has so far rejected any implied curbs on its sales, saying this violated the principle of trade liberalisation.
"China has to listen and discuss our demands for finding a midway solution," said Suleyman Orakcioglu, head of the Istanbul Ready-Made Garment Exporters Association, late on Wednesday.