Total cotton imports by China increased by 16.8 per cent year-on-year to 2.16 million tonnes in 2020, according to the country's General Administration of Customs. Cotton imports declined during the first half of the year due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic, but imports soared in the second half as production resumed and consumption recovered.

In the first six months of 2020, China's cotton imports decreased by 23.7 per cent year-on-year to 900,000 tonnes, the official data showed.

However, cotton imports surged 88.1 per cent to 1.26 million tonnes during July-December 2020, the customs data showed.