China sold abroad 185.1 billion U.S. dollars worth of textiles and clothing (including yarn, fabrics, textile products, garments and accessaries) in 2008, a growth of 8.2 percent on the previous year, the General Administration of Customs said on Saturday.

(See other customs figures: copper, new- and high-tech products, high energy-consuming products, edible vegetable oil.)?

But the growth rate was 10.7 percentage points below the year-earlier level.

The export value rose 10.1 percent to 16.06 billion U.S. dollars in December after it recorded a decline in February and June due mainly to weak demand upon the financial crisis.

The export recovery has begun since the second half of last year, when China readjusted the export tax rebates upward, foreign exchange rate of its currency remained stable and production cost fell, the customs administration said.

The total export value for the whole year included 119.79 billion U.S. dollars in sales of garments and accessaries, up 4.1 percent, and 65.31 billion dollars in sales of yarn, fabrics and textile products, up 16.6 percent.

(Xinhua News Agency February 21, 2009)