Shanghai's exports to the European Union (EU) countries and the United States dropped drastically in the first eight months this year due to export quota restrictions imposed on Chinese textiles products by EU and the U.S., the latest statistics showed.

Statistics from the Customs of Shanghai, China's leading metropolis, indicated that Shanghai did an export of 36.41 billion U.S. dollars to the EU countries in the January-August period, a year on year rise of 20.9 percent, but the increase rate was 21.4 percentage points lower than last year's same period.

Exports via Shanghai port to the United States rose 28.4 percent year on year to hit 40.87 billion U.S. dollars in the January-August period, but the increase rate dropped by 14.6 percentage points from last year's same period.

A sharp contrast to the exports, Shanghai imported 18.39 billion U.S. dollars worth of goods from EU countries in the first eight months this year, a year on year rise of 19.4 percent, with the increase rate rising by 20.1 percentage points from last year's corresponding period.

Shanghai did an import of 11.41 billion U.S. dollars from the United States in the same period, up 25.6 percent year on year, with the increase rate reaching 23.3 percentage points year on year.

Customs experts ascribed the drop in exports to the quota restrictions imposed on China's textiles products export by EU and the United States.

Shanghai exported 22.25 billion dollars worth of apparel products in the first eight months this year, but the increase rate dropped by 16.2 percentage points year on year.

In 2005, the elimination of global textile quota led to China's textile export surge to the EU countries and the united States, which caused trade disputes and rounds of talks.

The Sino-U.S. textile agreement which took effect as of Jan. 1, 2006 imposes quotas on a total of 21 categories of clothing and textiles from China by 2008. Some ten kinds of Chinese textile and apparel products exported to the EU countries have also been put under quota restrictions, according to an agreement reached by the two sides in June 2005.

The export restrictions impose threats to jobs of China's 19 million textiles workers.