China aims double textile output in 10-yr

BEIJING - Chinese textile producers aim to more than double the country's textile output by 2020 from the 2010 level, according to a 10-year plan from the textile industrial association released Tuesday.

The textile industry is planning to increase textile and clothing exports by an annual rate of about 7 percent and boost the export value of fiber products to $400 billion by 2020, said a 10-year development plan approved by China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC).

Rising demand for fiber products will accelerate the upgrading and transformation of the textile industry, and further boost innovation and branding to drive high-end industrial development, said the CNTAC.

The CNTAC expected Chinese urban citizens' average spending on clothing to grow by an average 12.5 year-on-year in the 2011-2020 period, while that of rural residents will increase by 15 percent annually.

In 2011, Chinese urban citizens spent 1,674.7 yuan ($265.8) on clothing per person, up 15.95 percent from the 2010 level, while rural residents' spending increased 29.5 percent year-on-year.

Du Yuzhou, honorary president of the CNTAC, said the industry still needs to up its innovation capacities.

More advanced technologies will be introduced to transform the traditional textile industry and more efforts will be put on the design, research and development of new products, according to the CNTAC.

The CNTAC will target cultivating leading brands in the industry, which are expected to account for more than 30 percent of the sales of above-scale enterprises, and more than 50 percent of their total profit by 2020.

Textile producers are also eyeing a more low-carbon and sustainable development pattern and they aim to reduce the industry's energy consumption per unit of industrial value-added output by 20 percent by 2015 from the 2010 level.