China’s Cotton Farmers Fail to Boost Crop, NDRC’s Fang Says

Cotton plantings in some areas of China, the largest importer, have fallen as record prices failed to spur increased acreage, according to the top economic planning agency, which highlighted a problem in the biggest producing region. Futures reversed losses to gain 1 percent.

“Cotton used to be a pillar industry in Xinjiang, if Xinjiang cotton has a problem, the foundation of our cotton-producing ability will be rocked,” Fang Yan, deputy head of rural affairs at the National Development and Reform Commission, said in an online briefing. Other cotton-growing areas along the Yellow, Huai and Yangtze river plains have shrunk as growers in Henan and Shandong ramped up grain output instead, Fang said.