The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and nine
other central government departments have issued a joint circular
calling for the accelerated restructuring of the country's textile
industry.
The restructuring is designed to improve the innovative capacity
of the industry, which currently only spends 0.3 percent of its
sales income on research and development and imports most of its
sophisticated equipment.
Insufficient supply of cotton, chemical fibers and other raw
materials have become a major bottleneck for China's textile
industry. The circular calls for the use of linen, bamboo and other
alternative materials as well as recycled fibers.
As the textile industry has become a major consumer of water and
is lagging behind other industries in the use of treated water, the
circular says efforts must be made to promote the practice of clean
production and cut energy consumption.
By 2010, water consumption for per ton of fiber production
should be cut by 20 percent, the quantity of fiber used for each
dollar of products shall also be cut by 20 percent, the circular
says.
The circular calls on China's more developed coastal regions to
focus on brand building, marketing, research and development and
other high value-adding businesses while allowing the
labor-intensive businesses to move to the relatively backward
central and western parts.
The government will also lend its support to the development of
large enterprises that not only have advanced technology and
equipment, but whose own brands have international influence, the
circular says.
(Xinhua News Agency June 21, 2006)