BEIJING, March 17 (Xinhuanet) -- The China National Federation of Textile will sponsor a textile and garment trade fair in Karlsruhe, Germany in early Nov. this year, a source with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) said Friday.

It will be the first time that China has held such an event in a European country, the source said.

The trade fair, jointly sponsored by the Federation, the Council's textile branch and the China Garment Association, will cover textiles, garments, cloth materials and other products.

The European Union is the world's largest textile and garment market and the world's second largest textile and garment importer.

It is predicted that the EU's gross national product will grow 5 percent in the next couple of years, indicating that textile manufacturers will have more opportunities in the region.

Zhang Yankai, director of the Marketing Department of the Federation said that China's textile and garment sector "urgently" needs a stage to show itself to European textile industrialists and consumers.

"We hope the trade fair can attract excellent Chinese enterprises who can update the European consumers on the latest development of the Chinese textile and garment sector," he said,

Zhang added, "We also hope to strengthen Sino-European exchanges and cooperation in this regard to achieve success for both sides."

The Federation sponsored a similar trade fair in New York in May 2002 after China joined the World Trade Organization.