SINGAPORE, March 21 (Reuters) - Large cotton reserves in top
consumer China will not pressure global markets given high
domestic auction prices, an industry official told Reuters on
Thursday.

China's stockpiling is expected to gobble up more than half
the world's cotton surplus by the end of the crop year in July,
according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

But Xi Jin, manager of international cooperation at the
China National Cotton Information Center, said Chinese state
reserves will not put pressure on global markets, since "the
auction price is much more expensive than the international
cotton price".

Domestic prices in China are about 50 percent above world
prices, according to traders. Xi Jin pegged the domestic cotton
auction price at 19,000 yuan ($3,100) per tonne.

"China can't keep buying. The stocks are so high," he said
on the sidelines of an industry conference in Singapore.

"As for 10 million tonnes, I can't confirm that but last
year we purchased over 3 million tonnes. This year, we purchased
over 6 million tonnes," he said referring to estimates of
China's cotton stockpile.

Cotton imports by China for the current 2012/13 season are
estimated at more than 3 million tonnes, he said.
($1 = 6.2118 Chinese yuan)