China's textile and garment exports reached US $50 billion in the first quarter of this year, up a marginal 3 percent from the same period of 2011.

The slowdown witnessed in China’s traditional markets like US, EU and Japan was compensated by marvelous growth rates posted in new markets like ASEAN, Africa, Latin America and Middle East last year.

Share of Chinese textiles and apparels in the three markets of EU, US and Japan fell 1.4 percent, 1 percent and 2.2 percent, respectively in the whole of 2011.

However, this was compensated by export growth to ASEAN which grew 34.1 percent last year, to Africa increased by 25 percent, to Latin America grew 38 percent and those to Middle East grew 27 percent.

Among them, the ASEAN has become one of the major markets of China's exports of textile and garment intermediate goods.