The organizers of the China Export Commodities Fair in Guangzhou, capital of south China's Guangdong Province, said the value of garment transactions declined about 10 percent compared to the previous event, with textile export deals to the US falling 44 percent.

Xu Bing, a spokesperson for the fair, which ended on Sunday after running for half a month, said the value of all deals struck at the event, including non-textile transactions, grew 0.7 percent.

The garment trade value at the fair stood at US$2.46 billion, 8.4 percent of the total trade value. It was 10.1 percent less than the previous session and 13.8 percent less than the one before that.

Clothing transactions with the US totaled US$310 million at the fair, and clothing exports to Europe totaled US$1.08 billion, down 6.9 percent on the previous event.

With talks on Sino-US textile trade disputes pending, many manufacturers and purchasers were cautious about signing contracts, according to the organizer, but trade in textile raw materials increased slightly since they were not affected by the quotas.

Electrical and mechanical products remained the major commodities traded at the fair, with US$12.25 billion worth of deals signed, almost 41.6 percent of the total trade volume.

The fair, a biannual event launched in 1957, is regarded by many as a bellwether for the country's foreign trade. Each event has two phases: one for manufactured goods, textiles and garments, foodstuffs and medicine, and one for souvenirs, gifts and everyday commodities.

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2005)