European Union (EU) trade commissioner Peter Mandelson, who plans next week to launch the first step in a process which could end in the EU slapping limits on imports, will hold a press conference Sunday, said his spokeswoman.

"We will have some further information," she told AFP when asked whether the EU would reveal more details of exactly how big the surge in Chinese textile imports has been since a global quota system ended on January 1 this year.

She declined to give any more details of what Mandelson plans to say Sunday, when he will speak to reporters in Brussels before talks with EU trade ministers at an informal meeting in Luxembourg later in the day.

On Friday the spokeswoman, Claude Veron-Reville, confirmed that Mandelson will ask the 25-member European Commission to back his recommendation to launch probes into some Chinese textile imports.

The move will mark the start of a path that could lead to limits on textile imports from China, where low costs have given producers a huge competitive advantage on the world market since January 1.

Beijing has warned that its relations with the EU could suffer if it goes ahead with limits, while the EU's textile trade, backed by producer countries such as France and Italy, has been lobbying hard for immediate action.

Mandelson said Friday that a heavy-handed approach to the trade dispute was unlikely to go down well with the Chinese authorities although Beijing might be receptive to encouragement to restrain its exports voluntarily.

"I dont think (China) can be armtwisted into taking any action nor do I expect it to respond to such armtwisting," he said.

"But informal consultations, cooperation, self-restraint, volontary measures are entirely different and are a matter for the Chinese authorities," he added.

Sunday's press conference by Mandelson is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. (1000 GMT).