PARIS, July 13, 2007 (AFP) - China's clothing industry makes a debut appearance in Paris next September, with around 150 companies teaming up for a special trade fair in the world's fashion capital.

China's clothing industry makes a debut appearance in Paris next September - Photo : Liu Jin/AFP

The Chinese apparel-makers are to show their cashmeres, silks and wool suits in a special China pavilion at the Texworld fabrics trade fair September 17-20, held on the heels of the city's twice-a-year ready-to-wear shows, which attracts tens of thousands of fashion types from across the globe.

"This is a new development," Michael Scherpe, who heads the trade fair owned by Germany's Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH, told AFP. "Paris is the centre of the textile and fashion trade."

The China National Textile and Apparel Council behind the initiative has taken part in trade fairs in New York over the past years and in 2006 took the country's clothing industry to a fair in Germany, its first foray into Europe.

The Chinese, huge players on the world textile market, now hope to show they can manufacture clothing in line with Western market demands.