Statistics reveal that cotton imports for the September 2006-August 2007 period are expected to reach around 4 million tons as the demand is likely to exceed 10 million tons of cotton.

In last 12 months, China recorded cotton output of almost 5.7 million tons and is estimated to touch 6 million tons mark in next year.

Chinese textile industry is expanding rapidly and in 2007 textile export is expected to rise 15 percent, raising the domestic cotton demand by almost 20 percent.

Sinkiang cotton output occupies 34.4 percent of the total production and that in last 12 month was recorded at around 1.96 million tons.

At present, China is the biggest cotton importer in the world.