Shift in Geography of China’s Cotton Production Reshapes Global Market

China has been a central player in global markets for cotton and textiles since the early 2000s, but trade patterns established decades ago are being disrupted by the changing economics of cotton production and textile manufacturing in that country. One of the factors shaking up the industry is that Chinese officials have been shifting the country’s cotton production to the remote Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Traditionally, China’s textile manufacturing and cotton production were both concentrated in provinces along its coast and in river valleys that had easy access to local cotton supplies, urban markets, and ports. However, with 90 percent of China’s cotton now grown in Xinjiang, the longer physical distance between where cotton is produced and where it is used has created supply difficulties for China’s textile industry. Additional challenges have come from import bans imposed by the United States and other countries on cotton products produced with forced labor in Xinjiang. Cumulatively, these changes are reshaping the global market for cotton.