China's textile industry grew rapidly in the first three quarters thanks to buoyant domestic demand, according to the China National Textile and Apparel Council.

From January to September, industry sales reached 1,725.8 billion yuan (216 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of 22.69 percent on the same period of last year, and profits rose to 60.1 billion yuan, up 23.69 percent.

Meanwhile, the industry's added value grew 15.29 percent to 465.3 billion yuan.

The council said the profits of the cotton textile sector grew 43.23 percent year on year, taking the industry top spot, while the chemical fibre sector's profits reached 5.125 billion yuan, up 38.2 percent on the same period last year.

Industry data show the export volume of textiles and garments amounted to 107.73 billion U.S. dollars in the January-September period, up 24.12 percent year on year, similar to last year.

However, the council said China's textile exports to the United States and the European Union had declined drastically due to import barriers and quotas.

As a result, the United States and the European Union, which accounted for 34 percent of China's total textile exports in January-September 2005, only represented 26.59 percent in the first nine months of 2006.

Source: Xinhua