Cotton imports in China, the world's largest consumer, picked up in December and surged 92 percent to 217,000 tonnes from November, the China Cotton Association reported, citing official Customs figures. The December figure, a rise of 28.7 percent from the year-ago period, bring China's total imports in the whole year of 2009 to 1.527 million tonnes, a decline of 27.7 percent from 2008, said the association in a report seen on its website on Thursday (www.china-cotton.org).
A recovery in China's textile exports and a lower domestic harvest in 2009 had led to shortages of the fibre and driven up local futures prices to a record high.