The fear is that Chinese exports would "soon overwhelm the worldwide clothing market, " as the Washington Post put it, has been ratcheted up by the imminent prospect of decades-old international trade agreements ending at the end of the year.

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Ilyushin, who was head of the Vladivostok region at the time, says the local government turned a blind eye as people broke all sorts of Soviet rules and sold scrap metal, surplus cement and anything else it could find to the Chinese in exchange for food and clothing.

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How about the food, clothing and shelter of ordinary Chinese themselves?

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Li Guilian runs Dayang Trands, a Chinese clothing company that is manufacturing the U.S. Olympic uniforms that the American team will be wearing at the opening ceremony in London on Friday.

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Now that those exports have helped make the Chinese richer, they have more to spend on food, clothing and shelter.

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For example, in 2011's Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon, Shia LaBeouf wears a T-shirt made by Chinese clothing maker Metersbonwe and, in one scene, a character drinks a carton of Shuhua milk made by dairy group Yili.

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Most Chinese exports to the US are still lower value manufactured goods such as clothing and shoes.

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Quotas that were stiffened after Chinese clothing imports surged into Europe in 2005 are set to expire at the end of this year.

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