The trade between Romania and China could register an increase of 35 to 50 percent in the coming years despite the restrictions imposed by the European Union (EU) on some Chinese products, chairman of the Romania-China Chamber of Commerce said on Thursday.

Following Romania's accession to the EU on Jan. 1, import and export tariffs on Chinese goods dropped 30 percent, averaging 15 to 18 percent, Gabriel Ghelmegeanu said.

However, for certain products, the EU has established tariff contingents.

"Bilateral trade will increase in absolute values by some 35 to 50 percent a year due to imports, because if at some goods, such as textiles or footwear, the contingencies globally approved by the EU are limited, at others, most of them, customs taxes drop according to the EU provisions," Ghelmegeanu said in an interview with the national Rompres news agency.

According to Romania's statistics, bilateral trade stood at 2.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2006, growing more than 30 percent from the previous year.

Imports from China rose over 32 percent to 1.938 billion dollars from 2005. Exports edged up 2 percent to 200 million dollars.

Chinese investments in Romania registered less than 200 million dollars by the end of 2006, mainly focusing on trade, the food industry and tourism.