Cotton output in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the
country's largest cotton base, is expected to grow by 22.7 percent
this year, a senior official said on Thursday.
Xinjiang Communist Party of China chief Wang Lequan told a
meeting of the regional Party committee that the region could
produce 2.7 million tons of cotton, 500,000 tons more than last
year.
He attributed the output growth to increased cultivation to 1.33
million hectares this year.
Wang said Xinjiang would cap the cotton cultivation area to
ensure land for food, grain and pasture.
(Xinhua News Agency December 14, 2007)
