Textile is one of international competitive industries in China. But in 2005, developed countries like EU and the USA set up various of trade barriers and caused sharp decrease in exports of Chinese textile products after sustainable rise in a period. Compared with which, exports of Chinese textile products to ASEAN turned a momentum of faster growth, compensating some economic losses caused by sharp decrease in exports to EU and the USA

Exports of Chinese textile products to ASEAN are different from that to other regions. Major export commodities in textile trade of China with American and European countries are finished garments and with ASEAN countries focus on semi finished goods such as yarn, cotton cloth and chemical fiber cloth. To form the trading pattern depends on the following 2 factors:
1, China engages in regional division of labors with most of ASEAN countries under the situation of processing trade.
2, China uses quotas of textile products for ASEAN countries to export products to European and American consumption markets under textile quota system.

With the launching of tariff reduction program of the China-ASEAN FTA, textile tariff rate of China and ASEAN countries will fall obviously and bring new development opportunities to Chinese textile industry.

Specific program:
The average tariff rate of textile products in Thailand is 21.5% and will be reduced to 10.6% from Jan. 1, 2007, to 4.7% from Jan. 1, 2009 and to zero in 2010; in Malaysia, the original average rate is 16.8%, will be reduced to 9.2% in 2007, to 3.9% in 2009 and be canceled in 2010; in Indonesia, most of tariff rates of textile products are less than 5%, and will be reduced to zero in 2009; in Vietnam, the tariff rate will be reduced to 27.2% in 2006, to 26.6% in 2007, to 22.8% in 2008, to 19% in 2009, to 12.6% in 2011, to 5.8% in 2013 and be canceled in 2015.

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