Beijing, September 1:

Three days of talks between China and the United States on a simmering textile row ended today without a comprehensive agreement being reached, the head of the US delegation said.

“Talks with the Chinese aimed at reaching a comprehensive agreement on textiles ended a short while ago,” said David Spooner, the US point man on textiles, who has headed the US delegation to the talks, “Despite our best efforts we were not able to reach a broader agreement.” The talks had been scheduled to last only two days but carried on into an unscheduled third day. “The US remains optimistic that we can continue to make progress on the remaining issues.”