China bought from abroad US$3.14 billion worth of textile machinery in the first eight months of this year, a growth of 25.5 percent on the same period of last year, sources with the General Administration of Customs said Saturday.

The growth rate was 14.5 percentage points higher than the year-earlier level, the sources added.

Between January and August, foreign-funded companies imported US$1.43 billion worth of textile machinery, up 10.8 percent year-on-year, private businesses imported US$870 million worth, up 73.35 percent, and State-owned enterprises, US$680 million, up 20.9 percent.

Japan and the European Union were the major sources of the imports, accounting for 79 percent of the total.

In the eight-month period, China bought US$1.5 billion worth of textile machinery from the EU, up 29.7 percent, and US$980 million worth from Japan, up 27.4 percent.

The fast growth in imports was ascribed largely to mounting demand at home, needs for the high-end, advanced equipment in particular, which were shored up by efforts to expand production and improve productivity.

The textile industry performed well in the past months, with domestic demand remain strong, according to industry observers.

In the first seven months, retail sales of clothing went up 24.9 percent, 9.4 percentage points higher than that for the nation's total. Major textile enterprises sold 75.25 percent of their products on home markets, up 1.54 percentage points over the year-earlier level. All these translated to confidence about development prospects of the textile industry.

In the first five months, the industry invested 78.5 billion yuan (US$10.6 billion) in fixed assets, up 29.3 percent.