China's cotton yield declines in 2014

BEIJING -- China's cotton yield in 2014 dropped 2.2 percent year on year to 6.16 million tons, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Wednesday.

Cotton field depletion has led to a fall in yield in China, said Song Yuezheng, a senior NBS official.

Nationwide, cotton land declined 2.9 percent in 2014 from the previous year to 63.29 million mu, about 4.2 million hectares, according to the NBS.

The relatively low profitability of cotton and the government's abolishment of its "temporary purchasing policy" to prop up prices are to blame for the depletion of arable cotton growing areas, said Lian Weiliang, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission.

China will remain a big consumer of cotton due to its large population, growing expendable income and increasing export demands, the shrinking growing area will result in a big supply gap in the cotton market, he said.

Lian called for a new purchase and sale mechanism for cotton, the introduction of a "nationwide modern logistics system" for the material and boosted yields through better technology, to fill the demand-supply gap.