The US and China had agreed to a deal on the import of mainland clothing and fabric, resolving a bitter trade dispute, a major Chinese textile association said yesterday.

"Both the US and China have compromised in reaching this textile pact," said China National Textile and Apparel Council spokesperson Sun Huaibin.

US imports of Chinese-made textiles would be limited to annual growth rates of between 10 percent and 17 percent until 2008, a concession by China, which wanted it to expire in 2007, he said.

The deal provides for a progressive increase in imports of most major textile and apparel products from China - by between 8 percent and 10 percent next year, 13 percent in 2007 and 17 percent in 2008.

US textile and clothing companies and labour unions have been pushing for a comprehensive deal to stem a flood of Chinese imports that began in January when global quotas, in place for more than three decades, were lifted.

The US government has been reimposing quotas, known as safeguards, for individual categories of clothing and textiles. The industry wants a deal covering all threatened categories and lasting for three years. The safeguard quotas were only good for a year at a time, allowing 7.5 percent growth each year.

Sun noted that the deal represented a concession by Washington, as the growth figures exceeded 7.5 percent.

He said working under the new agreement would be better than being subjected to protectionist, unilateral safeguards and would increase certainty for the Chinese industry. The council's statement echoes similar reports from the US media at the weekend.

The US reports said Beijing and Washington had agreed in principle to a pact allowing for escalating annual import growth rates in 34 individual categories of Chinese-made fabrics and apparel.

The Washington Post said the agreement was likely to be signed next week by US trade representative Rob Portman and Chinese commerce minister Bo Xilai, but US officials, who asked not to be named, said it might be signed as early as today.

US retailers had said they would reluctantly go along with a comprehensive deal as long as the growth in imports was sufficient to allow them to obtain reliable supplies. China and the EU finalised a similar textile deal in September, but the EU deal expires in 2007.

An official at China's commerce ministry declined to comment on the new agreement.