China's cotton production grows 9.7% in 2024, driven by Xinjiang growth

China's cotton production increased 9.7 per cent year-on-year to 6.164 million tonnes in 2024, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). This increase was primarily due to robust growth in Xinjiang, the country's main cotton-producing region. Both the area under cotton cultivation and yield per hectare contributed to the production rise. While the total planting area saw a modest 1.8 per cent increase, yield per unit area jumped significantly by 7.8 per cent to 2,172 kg per hectare.

In Xinjiang, the cotton plantation area expanded by 3.3 per cent to 2.45 million hectares. Conversely, cultivation areas declined in other key regions, with the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins experiencing contractions of 13.6 per cent and 1.6 per cent, respectively.