EU to monitor Chinese clothing exports

The EU and China have agreed to monitor Chinese clothing exports to Europe until the end of next year, AP reported. The monitoring agreement replaced a plan to lift all quotas on Chinese textiles at the start of 2008. The new intitiative is expected to ease trade tensions. The monitoring system will allow European governments to know when Chinese exports are flooding into their markets and intervene as necessary. EU manufacturers have protested in the past that they were being unfairly undermined by cheap Chinese products.