China and the United States have made progress in talks to reach a comprehensive agreement on textile trade at a two-day conference in San Francisco - and a new round of negotiations is expected soon.

The two sides agreed to continue consultations to find a mutually satisfactory solution after each party explained its stance, China’s commerce ministry spokesperson Chong Quan said, adding that some substantial differences still remain.

The US Trade Representative's chief textile negotiator, David Spooner was quoted as saying that the talks on August 16 and 17 were productive and had gone very well.

A new round of talks is set to take place in Beijing before the end of this month, when the US Government is scheduled to decide whether to launch additional safeguard measures against Chinese textile and apparel products.