China: Major cotton production provinces reduce cotton fields

INSIDE ASIA

Major cotton producing provinces and regions will considerably reduce their cotton fields this year, as cotton growing areas sharply increased last year.

The key reasons for the reduction include: (1) The supply of cotton far exceeds demand on the global market because global cotton production reached an all-time high last year. (2) The income of local cotton growers has sharply decreased because cotton prices have been falling since the second half of 2001. At the end of 2001, cotton prices decreased by 19.4% compared to the same 2000 period, and even fell by 50% in some regions.

The cotton growing areas in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Anhui and Henan Provinces (China's three largest cotton producers) are expected to decrease by 21.8%,17.7% and 10.3% respectively. The areas in Hunan, Hubei, Shandong and Jiangsu Provinces are to be reduced in the range of 7% to 9%.