China rethinks cotton stockpiling strategy
12/06/2013
Beijing bought 10 million tonnes of cotton from local farmers at above-market prices under the programme, keeping domestic cotton prices as much as 40% higher than the global benchmark.
But the government, along with the country's cotton association, has acknowledged the policy has hit domestic textile firms hard, with expensive cotton eroding their competitiveness, causing some to cut production or shut down.
"It was not our intention when we formulated the policy. We didn't expect it would be implemented for so long," said Gao Fang, vice-president of the China Cotton Association.
"We have reached a consensus that we need a better policy for the Chinese market," he added, without giving details of what this might be.
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