"The Chinese government expresses deep regret over this decision," the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement.

"The American government ignored the strong opposition from the Chinese side, made such a recommendation, violating the World Trade Organization's principles of free trade, transparency and non-discrimination."

China threatened to take the issue to the rules-based global trade body.

"The Chinese side retains the right to appeal to relevant agencies of WTO to protect the rights and interests of Chinese industries," the ministry said.

A ministry spokesman told AFP Chinese officials had cancelled a trip scheduled Wednesday to the US to meet soybean sellers.

The spat adds to a rising number of disputes between the two trading giants, as the US seeks to balance a 103 billion dollar trade deficit with China blamed on Beijing boosting its competitiveness by deliberately undervaluing its currency.

The new row erupted Tuesday as Washington announced quotas on Chinese textiles after finding a flood of subsidized imports has hurt US textile makers.

A US trade panel examining a complaint from the US textile industry called for "safeguard" relief against Chinese-made knit fabrics, dressing gowns and bras, the US Commerce Department said.

The move, which could limit the growth of Chinese imports to 7.5 percent annually, came under the provisions of China's accession agreement to the WTO.

But the ministry said the US measures did not fit the provision that allows the United States and other WTO members to impose temporary quotas in the event those imports are found to cause market disruption.

China did not explicitly threaten retaliatory measures, but said overall trade relations could be damaged.

"China hopes the US will realize the negative impact the decision is bound to have on bilateral trade relations," the ministry said.

A group representing Chinese textiles manufacturers lambasted the US decision as "completely wrong and arbitrary."

The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles said the US textile sector had only itself to blame for slumping production.

It insisted Chinese manufacturers had nothing to do with the sharp increase in exports, saying the growth only underscored the changing nature of the industry.

"The accusations of US domestic producers to Chinese textile exporters is fabricated, there is no factual foundation," it said.

One US industry group estimated that since 2001 exports of dressing gowns from China have increased by 905 percent, bras by 382 percent and knit fabrics by 28,000 percent.

But the chamber argued China has become one of the US's "bright spots" to the textile exportation market, which benefits much more from maintaining the fast growth of the market.

It further reminded Washington that China's textile imports from the US have grown sharply, surging 148 percent to 787 million in the first nine months of this year compared with the same period last year.