Trade and Industry Deputy President Rob Davies has announced that the South African government is on the verge of concluding a voluntary restraint agreement with China to halt the flood of Chinese clothing and textile products into the country.

The long-awaited agreement should silence critics of the state who believe that government's inaction concerning clothing and textile manufactures and trade unions is costing millions of rands.

Both labour and business have blamed the problem of flooding the market with cheap Chinese imports for the decline of the clothing industry, and the loss of more than 55 000 jobs in the sector since 2003.

Davies said that the signature of an agreement on the same lines as that reached between China and the European Union (EU) earlier this year was "imminent".

The agreement would include an offer of voluntary restraint by China on clothing and textile exports to SA.

The deal between the EU and China follows the EU blocking millions of unlicensed Chinese products in European warehouses in June this year. Now China has curbed its growth in imports from eight percent to 12.5 percent a year until the end of 2008.

Iafrica.com