As the world's largest producer and exporter of textile products China can expect a 10.5 percent rise in its cotton production this year, the National Reform and Development Commission (NRDC) said Monday.

"The latest estimates show that the nation's cotton production is likely to reach 6.5 million tons, an increase of 800,000 tons over last year," the NRDC said in a statement on its official website.

The statement attributed the bumper harvest to good weather in the main cotton-producing regions.

And the International Cotton Advisory Committee has raised its estimate of global cotton production by 330,000 tons to 25 million tons because of higher output from China, India and the United States.

This has led to lower prices for both domestic and imported cotton. At the end of September cotton futures contracts maturing in December were priced at 13,666 yuan (US$1,730) per ton at China's Zhengzhou futures exchange. That is 667 yuan less than a month ago.

The price for the same futures contracts on the New York exchange also slipped back 5.5 percent in September.

Customs figures show that China's cotton imports dropped by a hefty 57.2 percent year on year in September to 134,000 tons. The figure is 53.1 percent down on the August figure.

The NRDC called for measures to ensure that purchases of cotton from farmers were carried-out in a smooth and efficient manner so as to protect their interests.

It added that despite the good harvest this year the domestic supply of cotton still fell far short of demand and therefore there remained a requirement to support domestic cotton producers in the long term.?

(Xinhua News Agency October 24, 2006)