In 2014, China's total cotton output of 6.161 million tons decreased by 2.2% compared with the same period last year.

Due to factors such as the reduction in sown area, China's total cotton output this year is 6.161 million tons, down 138000 tons from 2013 and 2.2 percent from last year, according to data released by China's National Bureau of Statistics on the 17th.

This year, the national cotton output per unit area increased by 0.7% to 1460.3 kg / ha compared with the same period last year.

Song Yuezheng, director of the Rural Department of the National Bureau of Statistics, said that the reduction in sown area is the main reason for the decline in cotton production. In 2014, the sown area of cotton in China was 4219.1 thousand hectares (63.286 million mu), a decrease of 126.5 thousand hectares, or 2.9 percent, compared with last year. Due to the reduction in sown area, the output was reduced by 183000 tons.

Xinjiang is the largest cotton producing area in China. As a pilot area for target price reform, the sown area of cotton in Xinjiang this year has increased by 235.1 hectares to 1953.3 hectares over last year, accounting for 46.3 percent of the country's total, up from 39.5 percent in 2013. In other provinces, due to the decline in expected income, the cotton sown area has generally decreased.

According to the statistics bureau, the national cotton output per unit area this year increased by 0.7% to 1460.3 kg / ha compared with the same period last year, an increase of 10.8 kg / ha over last year.

Song Yuezheng believes that due to the obvious geographical advantages of cotton production in Xinjiang, and the per unit yield is higher than that in other regions, the increase in the proportion of cotton sown area in the whole country this year is the main reason for the increase in cotton per unit yield in the whole country.

Statistics show that Xinjiang's cotton output reached 3.677 million tons in 2014, accounting for 59.7 percent of the country's total output; cotton output of provinces outside Xinjiang totaled 2.484 million tons, 298000 tons less than last year.