BEIJING, June 28 (Reuters)China's total cotton planting area has fallen 10.3% on last year, according to survey data from May released on Wednesday by the China Cotton Storage Information Centre, a government-backed industry website.

The country's total cotton planting acreage as of May was 41.40 million mu, equivalent to 2.77 million hectares, the survey data showed.

Acreage in the northwestern Xinjiang region, China's leading cotton producing region, fell by 8.0% to 36.16 million mu, equivalent to 2.42 million hectares. Xinjiang represented around 87% of the country's total cotton acreage, according to the survey data.

Acreage in central regions saw more marked declines, with total planting area in the Yellow River basin falling by 24.5% versus last year.

(Reporting by Andrew Hayley; editing by Jason Neely and Chizu Nomiyama)