¡@BEIJING, June 4(Xinhuanet)-- A senior Chinese official urged US to settle the Sino-US textile trade issue properly and claimed that intellectual property right protection is witnessing progressin China.

"Sino-US economic and trade ties is generally good...Chinese government attaches importance to such relations," Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi told US Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez and Trade representative Rob Portman here on Saturday.

"I hope China and the United States can make joint efforts and emphasize on the future development to reserve and promote the sound and cooperative economic and trade ties between the two countries," she said.

Wu, who is in charge of China's foreign trade and investment inthe cabinet, appreciated US President George W. Bush's"foresight and courage" as a"politician and strategist" since he vetoed several proposal or bills which might hurt Sino-US economic relations.

The textile issue is a"major problem" in the development of Sino-US economic and trade ties, she said, noting the cooperation will be"severely influenced" if the issue was not treated well and Chinese government is"greatly concerned" about that.

The US government decided to restrict Chinese textile and clothing imports earlier this year, months after such quota was eliminated worldwide on Jan. 1.

Such limitation sparked anger among Chinese textile and clothing industry. Reports said it will cause about 100,000 job cut in China, which plays as a major supply of the world's textileand clothing market. Enditem