Even a Decade was not Time Enough to Prepare for the New Textile Market

The EU-China agreement on textiles negotiated in Shanghai June 10 was greeted vigorously by both sides as an achievement of cooperative consultation in direct contrast to the unilateralist approach taken by Washington in the same and other trade problems against both the EU and China.

Virtually unnoticed, the Prime Minister of the newly-emerging democracy in Mongolia, Tsakhiagiyn Elbegdorj, passed through the European Institutions in Brussels June 9 at the start of a European tour that also included The Netherlands and Germany.

The dramatic entry of a new Asian player on the global marketplace by Taiwan-based BenQ, through the acquisition June 8 of industrial giant Siemens’ entire mobile telephone operation, confirmed again that the new breed from the East are not risk-averse and in fact are compelled to take such risks to make their mark.

China is managing to achieve the "soft landing" desired in its quest to contain inflation and overheating and should manage a shift to redirect growth from an investment and export-driven pattern toward more internal domestic demand, according to the Asian Development Bank's (ADB) most recent Outlook.