NEW YORK - The 20th China Textile and Apparel Trade Show in New York opened on Monday in Manhattan's Javits Center, serving as a platform to showcase the latest industrial trends and help Chinese companies explore the US market despite ongoing trade tensions.

Over 500 Chinese garment, fabric and textile companies are attending this year's trade show, which will run through Wednesday. Another 300 or so companies from 16 countries and regions also joined the show with an exhibition area of 30,000 square meters.

Xu Yingxin, vice-president of the China National Textile and Apparel Council, said at the opening of the annual event that the trade show has helped Chinese companies go global in an era of industrial upgrading and transformation.

China and the United States are both leading producers and consumers of textile and apparel with important shared interests, noted Xu.

"Against the backdrop of the trade frictions, opening the show today as scheduled has profound implications for our future collaborations," he added.

Gu Chunfang, the Economic and Commercial Counselor at the Chinese Consulate General in New York, said the event shows that no single country can supply everything to meet diversified market demands.

"Many Chinese companies will continue to be the most reliable suppliers of American fashion brands, and the long-term mutually beneficial and win-win trade partnership between the Chinese and American textile industries will have no change," said the counselor.

Since 2010, the China Textile and Apparel Trade Show has been held in parallel with the Home Textiles Sourcing, Apparel Sourcing USA, and the Texworld USA expos to better cater to customers in the United States and beyond.