The value of cotton imported by China is set to soar to monthly average of $601.05 million during January-August 2021, compared to monthly average of $297.27 in 2019 and $296.87 million in 2020. This is due to the increasing orders placed with Chinese clothing manufacturers by western nations that have banned the use of Xinjiang cotton and cotton products.

In 2019, China imported $3,567.23 million worth of cotton, for converting to yarn and fabric. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, its cotton imports last year stood almost the same at $3,562.38 million. Though cotton imports remained low between April 2020 and August 2020, fluctuating in the range of $150 million to $250 million, they recovered in the following months, according to Fibre2Fashion's market analysis tool TexPro.

In December 2020, cotton imports grew 89.33 per cent month-on-month, as manufacturers started replacing Xinjiang cotton with imported cotton fibre. Xinjiang cotton contributes for the 70.00 to 80.00 per cent of China’s cotton output.

Recently, the US banned import of all products that contain cotton produced in Xinjiang autonomous region of China, due to human rights concerns. If Chinese manufacturers use local cotton to fulfil the orders from western countries, they will face issues such as quality compromise and order cancellations.