Published by: THE WORLD UYGHUR NETWORK NEWS November 14, 1997

11/04/97, Beijing Zhongguo Xinwen She, FBIS Transcribed Text

Beijing, November 4 (CNS) --- A bumper cotton harvest this year has resulted in the largest volume in five years to be purchased from farmers. As at October 25, the total volume of cotton purchased this year by the Chinese government from farmers amounted to 1.94 million tonnes, a rise of 917,500 tonnes, or 89 percent over the same period in 1996. Business has been flourishing since cotton purchasing began during the second half of August, much earlier than in previous years.

In Xinjiang Province, farmers hoping to sell all of their 1.15 million tonne output to the government had sold 675,000 tonnes by October 25, 329,500 tonnes more than the same period last year. With the exception of Zhejiang Province, whose crop suffered from the effects of typhoons, all other cotton producing regions have increased cotton output and subsequent sales.