China is vehemently protesting a US decision to impose a quota on sock imports, warning yesterday that it might take "further steps" under World Trade Organization rules to protect its exports.

The US decision to limit the increase in sock imports from China was announced last Friday.

Such action "violated liberalization of trade in textiles, severely bruised the confidence of Chinese industry and people in the international trade environment under the WTO and undoubtedly damaged the trading system," Ministry of Commerce spokesman Chong Quan said yesterday.

"The Chinese government reserves the right to take further steps under the framework of the WTO," Chong said.

Sino-US fabric industries are highly complementary, and the Chinese government has been striving to promote communication and cooperation between them, Chong said.

"The Chinese government urges the US government to handle such cases cautiously and to amend its errors so as to avoid casting a cloud over Sino-US trade and economic ties," he said.

Last week, Washington ruled that sock imports from China were disrupting the US market.

Washington plans to seek talks with China on the disruptions. Meanwhile, a quota will limit imports of socks from China to a 7.5 percent annual increase over current import levels - a far smaller increase than in recent years. If the talks fail to resolve the dispute, the quota will remain in effect for a year.

The Ministry of Commerce charged that there was no evidence China's exports were causing disruptions.