The EU has taken its dispute with Chinese textile imports to the World Trade Organization (WTO), forcing Beijing to immediately curb shipments of two sensitive trade categories -- T-shirts and flax yarn.
The EU said on Friday it did not mean to preclude any negotiations outside the WTO framework if that could lead to a deal.
"The Chinese government perfectly understands this procedural step does not preclude or displace the intensive discussions between China and the EU," EU spokeswoman Claude Veron-Reville said.
By taking the dispute to the WTO, the EU gave China 15 days to react but said "a mutually satisfactory agreement" could be reached in negotiation during that period.
The action meant China faces immediate restrictions on exports of flax yarn and T-shirts: Imports of these products can be "no greater than 7.5 percent above the amount that entered the EU market during the period from March 2004 to February 2005."
The EU said that it put the issue before the WTO "after a thorough and fruitful telephone discussion" between EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and Chinese Trade Minister Bo Xilai.
"This will be followed by further contacts ... in the coming week, when discussions can be expected to intensify at technical and political levels," Veron-Reville said.
Under the terms of China's WTO membership, if another member state can establish that Chinese textiles are disrupting the market, it may request bilateral consultations at the WTO.
The EU action had been widely expected, given European concern about fast-rising imports of Chinese textiles since they were freed from quotas on Jan. 1. The EU had set a June 1 deadline but acted five days earlier.
Last week, China announced new tariffs on its surging textile exports in a concession aimed at easing a clash with the US and Europe over the textile trade. The US already has imposed limits on Chinese exports.
Beijing criticized that action as unfair and said the US and Europe were partly to blame for the surge because they failed to keep promises to open their markets earlier.
The US imposed import quotas on Chinese-made cotton trousers, underwear, man-made fiber shirts and other goods to restrain their double-digit imports.
The EU claims its textile industry has been seriously hurt by the lifting of the quotas, losing production and employment.
Chinese imports of T-shirts in the first four months of this year rose by 187 percent over the first four months of last year. Flax yarn imports rose by 56 percent during that period, according to EU figures.
The EU has said that Chinese imports are not only hurting European producers but those in Africa as well.
Textile trade is part of a number of disputes between Beijing and its trade partners. The US, EU and other governments also are pressing Beijing to raise the state-set value of its currency and to stamp out rampant product piracy.
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