China, the world's top textile exporter, imported 41,300 tonnes of cotton in October, down 1.9 percent year-on-year, said the China Cotton Association on its website on Thursday. China has imported 696,000 tonnes of cotton in the first 10 months of the year, down 42 percent from last year, showed the data. Imports fell after China issued fewer low-tariff import quota and sold off millions of tonnes of fibre from its state reserves.