China's gross output value of textiles rose by 10.3 percent last year, said vice president of China National Textile and Apparel Council (CNTAC) Shen Kunyuan Wednesday.

"The output of textile enterprises with annual sales exceeding 5 million yuan (733,000 U.S. dollars) reached 3.8 trillion yuan last year," he said.

The council had yet to compile full-year profit figures, he said, but profits in the first 11 months of 2009 saw a year-on-year growth of 25.4 percent to 133.1 billion yuan.

Shen told Xinhua that China had more than 50,000 textile companies of that size.

"The profit growth can be attributed to equipment upgrading and relocation of the companies from coastal areas to central China where costs are lower," said Sun Huaibin, a researcher with CNTAC.

"Exports this year may turn around and rise 4 percent, but the rate may be slower than before the crisis, and I estimate 80 percent of the products will be sold in the domestic market this year," Shen said.

China's exports of textiles in 2006, before the global economic downturn, soared 25.1 percent year on year and hit 147.1 billion U.S. dollars, according to National Development and Reform Commission.

Last year China produced about 24 million tonnes of yarn, up 12.7 percent year on year, and the amount of clothes produced increased 6.9 percent to 23.75 billion units, according to Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Source: Xinhua