The shortage of technical workers has become a key obstacle preventing the textile industry from growing stronger, an official with the China National Textile Industry Council (CNTAC) said Friday.

Half of the country′s key production positions lack technical workers as 70 percent of the front-line workers are farmer-turned workers who are liable to change jobs, CNTAC vice president Xu Kunyuan said at a national vocational skills competition press release.

"The country aims to raise the productivity of the textile industry by 50 percent during the 2011-2015 period, but it still faces a tough task to train technicians," Xu said.

Xu suggested that textile firms transfer their labor-intensive businesses to the middle and west regions so to solve the issue of staff moving on while strengthening training to develop key technicians.

"Currently, the country′s textile industry rarely provides any training. School education also fails to meet the industry′s real needs," Xu said, adding that the industry′s organizations should play a role in promoting the training.

The country has continually vowed to eliminate outdated capacity and raise productivity in the textile industry in the wake of fiercer competition from other Asian countries where quality and efficiency are improving.

According to the China Chamber of Commerce for Import &Export of Textiles, the country exported 48.63 billion U.S. dollars of textiles and garments in the first quarter of this year, up 24 percent from a year earlier.