Beijing --- On the morning of August 27, Mr. Du Yuzhou, President of China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC), respectively undersigned Memorandum on Understanding (MOU) concerning the protection of intellectual property rights with Mr. Thierry Noblot, Delegate General of the Federation of the French Textile Industry (UIT), Memorandum of Understanding on the Co-operation in the fields of Environmental Policy and Health Care with Mr. Peter Schwartze, President of the Confederation of the German Textile and Fashion Industry, and Memorandum on the Cooperation and Memorandum on Understanding (MOU) concerning the protection of intellectual property rights with Mr. Max R. Hungerbühler, President of the Swiss Textile Federation.

 
Witnesses of the sign-up also included Dr. Wolf-Rüdiger Baumann, Director General of the Confederation of the German Textile and Fashion Industry, Mrs. Claudia Saam and Mr. Sven Eriskat, also from the German Confederation, Mrs. Barbara Schmidt-Zock from the Association of German Home Textile Industry, Mr. Thomas Rasch, Director General of German Fashion Association, Dr. Thomas Schweizer, Director General of the Swiss Textile Federation, Dr. Peter Pfneisl, President of the Association of the Austrian Textile Industry, and Mr. Salvador Maluquer, Executive Vice President of Spanish Cotton System Textile Industry Association. From CNTAC side the attendees included Mr. Gao Yong, Vice President of CNTAC, Mme. Yuan Hongping, Director of Foreign Affairs Office, CNTAC, Mr. Sun Huaibin, Director of Industrial Consulting Department of CNTAC, Mr. Zhu Minru, Director General of China Nonwovens Industrial Textile Association, Mr. Chen Weikang, Vice Chairman of the Sub-Council of Textile Industry, CCPIT, Mne. Zhu Beina, Secretary General of China Cotton Textile Association, Mr. Wang Zhuo, Vice Secretary General of China National Garment Association.

The issue of IPR protection is widely concerned not only in the global market, but also within China. So the topic about IPR aroused a lot of discussion before the sign-up. The misunderstanding that only manufacturers should be claimed for the IPR violation were existing worldwide and it was not fair, Mr. Gao Yong, Vice President of CNTAC, emphasized. And all the representatives of the industrial organizations from different countries reached the common idea that manufacturers, buyers and consumers should work together to fight against IPR infringement.

CNTAC has set up an active relationship with the Confederation of the German Textile and Fashion Industry for a long time. Following the undersign of MOU on cooperation and IPR protection, the undersign of MOU on the Co-operation in the fields of Environmental Policy and Health Care are seen as the further development of the collaboration between the two organizations. Based on the MOU, more communication initiatives for both Chinese and German companies can be expected, in particular in the fields of nonwovens and technical textiles.

Another interesting topic during the whole section of signing up is the coming expiration of the textile agreement with EU and the concerns in another “surging export growth” as the first half of 2005 when the textile quota system came to the end. “We don’t see any possibility that the rushing situation will happen again in 2008, because that the 10 categories of textiles limited with the agreement only account for 18% of the exports from China to EU, and the quota based on the agreement for the 10 categories were not fully utilized these years. On the other side, a range of reforms and restructuring has accomplished within China. China’s textile and apparel sector is on the way of the transition of development pattern from quantity-oriented to quality-oriented. And CNAC has developed the specialized social compliance system for textile and clothing industry, namely CSC9000T,” explained Mr. Sun Huaibin, the Spokesman and Director of Industrial Consulting Department of CNTAC.