China imported 2.57 million tons of cotton in 2005, an increase of 35.3 percent year on year, the China Cotton Association said Thursday.

In December 2005, the country imported 350,000 tons of cotton, 5.9 fold the figure for the same period of 2004. And over 40 percent of its total cotton import in 2005 was imported during the last four months of the year.

Insiders ascribe the jump of China's cotton import in 2005 to the country's shrinkage of domestic cotton plant area and cotton output decrease resultant from the prolonged rainy days.

The association expected the global cotton trade volume to exceed 8 million tons for the first time in 2006, and the global cotton output to decrease by 1.27 million tons from the previous year.

(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2006)