CHINA will allow its textile exporters to begin bidding on next year's US quotas early next month, a move that follows a deal signed earlier this month to reimpose quotas on 21 categories of Chinese textile shipments to the United States.

The online auction, constituting 60 percent of all quotas set for public bidding for next year, will run from 8am on December 6 through midnight December 8, China's Ministry of Commerce said on its Website.

All companies that have exported the covered products from January to September this year can participate in the auction.

Quotas in each product category will be awarded to the high bidders, the ministry said. Results will be released on December 9.

China set aside 30 percent of next year's quotas for public bidding. The rest will be allocated to exporters based on their performance in the past year.

To secure a market-oriented result, the ministry said it will not consider bids that offer exceptionally high prices.

The minimum bid levels range from 0.10 yuan (12 US cents) to 1 yuan per 1,000 kilograms and from 0.2 yuan per dozen to 12 yuan per dozen, depending on the product, the ministry said.

China and the United States agreed on November 8 to restrict exports of 21 categories of Chinese textiles for three years starting next year, including cotton pants, knitwear, socks and bras.

The accord caps the annual growth of Chinese textile exports to the US at 10 percent to 17 percent for the coming three years. The annual growth limit for 2006 is between 10 percent and 15 percent.

The deal was widely hailed by domestic clothing exporters because it settled a nearly half-year trade dispute that caused a halt in shipments of some textiles, and it offered a predictable trade environment for their future business.

Lu Longsheng, general manager of Shanghai Flying Horse Import and Export Trade Co, said competition for US quotas will be more contested than for EU quotas because there are more participants.

"Over 28,000 companies are qualified for the bidding, which is 7,000 more than for the EU bidding," he said.

China's textile exports jumped 22 percent to US$55 billion in the first nine months of this year, according to Chinese Customs figures. The country posted a record US$162 billion trade surplus with the United States last year.

Shanghaidaily.com