New York — American Decorative Fabrics Corp. ''is the only mill in the People's Republic of China managed by Westerners and therefore sensitive to the needs of Westerners,'' said Joe Rosenfeld, president.

''Any customer who investigates the opportunities of doing business with a China-based mill will end up with a U.S.-based operation like ADF which can offer western styling, quality, communication and delivery standards at competitive prices,'' he said. ''We even import our dyes from Europe for the cotton and polyester yarn we use in China.''

Rosenfeld manages the American division of Shanghai Orient West Industries Inc. with David Li, C.E.O. The Head designer is Shannon Li, a graduate of the Philadelphia School of Textiles. She works with a growing in-house design department of 11 designers in Shanghai with four CAD/CAM systems and a New York-based design studio. Edgar Parrado is Executive Vice President in charge of export sales with an emphasis on the Latin American market. He was formerly with Burlington Industries. Rosenfeld and Li previously worked together at Ametex Fabrics.

After nine years in business, ADF is showing at Heimtextil for the first time ''We have warehouses in High Point, N.C., and in Mississippi to service the furniture industry. Everywhere else is a drop shipment situation with two- to eight-week delivery, with the customer paying freight from China upon confirmation of order,'' said Rosenfeld. ''We copyright our designs in the U.S.A. and in China.'' However, after copyrighting in China, Rosenfeld found what many others have already discovered the hard way. '' There is a strong copyright law in China, but there is simply no way to enforce it there,'' he said.

ADF markets worldwide with an established group of agents. ''We sell the jacquard production of 700 looms and 2,000 employees with five mills on the Yangtze River,'' Rosenfeld said. ''This operation, owned by the Li family and outside partners, is the largest home furnishings supplier in China today. We can also deliver to the customer directly worldwide without going through a Chinese government-owned import-export agency or trading house.''

ADF has the capability to produce 90-126 inch widths as well as narrow goods in the 54-60 inch range depending on which of its five mills it uses, Rosenfeld said. It produces assorted piece dyed jacquards and velvets; yarn dyed jacquards, matellasses, tapestries and embellines. It offers heat transfer prints on dyed grounds. ''We spin our own cotton and chenille yarns but purchase the polyester yarns from Taiwan and China.

''When you do business with third world countries, as soon as you succeed, the prices are raised. ADF offers continuity of price.''