"China will not sign any agreement which will hurt China's rights and is unfavourable towards the healthy development of its textile industry," the commerce ministry said in a statement.

The two sides walked away from the talks, originally scheduled for two days, after the morning session Thursday without an agreement or even a date for another round.

The talks were aimed at reaching a comprehensive agreement to regulate Chinese textile shipments, which have soared since global quotas were scrapped on January 1.

The US administration, under pressure from its own textile industry, has progressively imposed what it calls "cumbersome" quotas on individual categories of imports from China while pressing for an overall agreement.

The lack of an agreement raises the prospect that the US government will impose further restrictions in the face of continued calls for more curbs.

Under China's accession to the World Trade Organisation in 2001, the United States can impose "safeguard" quotas until the end of 2008 if China's textiles are shown to be disrupting the US market.

US chief negotiator David Spooner emphasised that Washington reserved this right to limit the influx of Chinese imports.