China will start selling cotton stockpiles next week to increase local supply, industry website cncotton.com said on Thursday.

The country will sell reserves in auctions to be held as early as next week at a minimum of 18,500 yuan ($2,913) a metric ton, the website said, without citing anyone or giving the amount the government intends to unload.

China's textile industry, the world's largest user of the fiber, has been hurt by weak demand as economic growth slowed to the lowest in more than three years in the second quarter, Zhang Zhenguo, founder of Shanghai Goldencot Global Trading Co, said from Shanghai on Thursday. The industry faces high raw material costs because China's cotton is traded at a steep premium to the overseas market, he said.

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