By Mariette le Roux
Clothing workers have hailed an understanding reached between South Africa and China on textile imports as a chance to rebuild the local industry.
About 63 000 jobs have been lost in local fashion manufacturing in the past three-and-a-half years, largely because of cheap imports from China, the South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (Sactwu) said on Thursday.
Clothing imports from China rose by 480 percent since 2002, it said.
Few details available A pending agreement on import limitations would provide a window of opportunity for rebuilding the local industry.
"We need to use the space created to ensure we make our factories state-of-the-art and improve training of workers on a scale that will develop South Africa into a world-class producer," the union said in a media statement.
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Little detail was forthcoming on Thursday of the deal struck between the two countries.
Textile import limitations were included in a memorandum of understanding on promoting trade and economic co-operation initialled by ministers of the two countries on Wednesday.
But South African and Chinese legal procedures had to be completed before a final agreement could be signed, the Department of Trade and Industry said on Thursday.
'Bilateral solution' In the meantime, it declined to make available the text of the textile pact.
"Sections of the agreement have yet to be finalised," said spokesperson Henriette van der Merwe.
A departmental statement said a "bilateral solution" identified by the two countries included import limitations on 31 product categories until the end of 2008.
"Further details will be made available upon entry into force," it said.
Sactwu said the processes required for the agreement to come into effect should be concluded in the next two weeks.
"The agreement is expected to set quantitative targets on specified clothing and textile products and the final text and details are in the process of being finalised."
Together with an active "buy-local" campaign and steps to boost competitiveness, an agreement with China could help create more than 60 000 new jobs in the industry, the union said.
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