A spokesperson with Shanghai Textile Share-Holding Group Company said cloth woven from the fiber felt silky and performed better than chemical equivalents in tests of moisture evaporability and air ventilation.

Construction of a production line with a designed capacity of producing 2,000 tons of the fiber was set to start this year, according to the company.

The capacity will be lifted to 20,000 and 30,000 tons a year gradually over future years.

The spokesperson said the raw material was renewable and about 99.7 percent of the solvents used in producing the fiber could be recycled, making it a better alternative than chemical products.

The spokesperson said domestic demand was increasing as imports were on the rise, with annual demand for the fiber expected to reach 35,000 tons by 2005.

China imported at least 7,000 tons of the fiber during the first 10 months of 2002, compared with 2,000 tons in 2000.

(Xinhua News Agency February 4, 2003)