[CND, 11/21/97] China has instituted measures allowing supply and demand
forces to dictate production and consumption of cotton in response to an
expected bumper harvest this year, AFP reported from Shanghai on Monday.
SHI Jianwei, deputy director of the Cotton and Flax Bureau, told reporters
that the expected production is 4.3 million tonnes this year. Last year it
was 4.2 million tonnes. According to Shi, cotton hectarage has fallen by
two to three million mu (130,000 to 200,000 hectares) to 67 million mu
(4.47 million hectares). The policy now allows peasants to produce whatever
crop they want for profit. This resulted in crop switches away from cotton
in Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces. About a third
of China's cotton production now comes from the northwestern autonomous
region of Xinjiang, where cotton grown is comparable to the Californian
variety in terms of fibre length and strength, industry sources said. The
Chinese cotton industry has grown from a supply shortfall three years ago.
Up to 650,000 tonnes of cotton was imported last year. Cotton imports were
expected to fall to 500,000 tonnes this year, mainly from the United
States, Mexico and Australia. "If textile mills find imported cotton
cheaper they will buy more but this will drive up the prices. We are
letting market forces determine the supply situation," Shi said. (Weihe
Guan, Ray ZHANG)