Discussions ran to near midnight in Beijing on Friday, but the two sides failed to reach a deal and agreed to continue into the weekend.

On Saturday, an EU spokesman in Beijing said talks were under way, but could not provide details on the proceedings.

The June deal, which capped growth in 10 lines of Chinese textile exports at 8-12 percent a year, was hailed at the time as a sensible response to a deluge of low-cost clothes from China following the scrapping of global textile quotas on Jan. 1.

But most of the new ceilings have already been reached, leading to vast quantities of garments such as bras and blouses being held up by EU customs.

European retailers are furious that they cannot take delivery of hundreds of millions of euros worth of goods that they bought for the holiday shopping season.

Negotiators are exploring solutions such as transferring quotas that have not been filled to more popular lines, "borrowing" from next year's quotas or allowing importers to bring in goods ordered before the June 10 curbs.

Based on the outcome of the talks, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, could put a proposal to the 25-nation bloc next week on clearing the warehouses, a commission official said.

Textiles have been a source of international trade friction this year following the Jan. 1 expiration of a long-standing global pact regulating the textile trade.

Chinese negotiators will sit down with US negotiators in Beijing next week to try to thrash out a deal similar to that with the EU to replace the quotas Washington has imposed following a surge in textile imports from China.