Robert Carson Jr., the president of Cotton Council International (CCI) which is the marketing arm of the US cotton industry, told reporters in a briefing that if China's population and economic growth remain on track, its "consumption of apparel and accessories will triple by 2005."
He told Reuters in an interview at the annual Beltwide Cotton conference here: "If they've got that much increase in consumption, they're going to have increase (cotton) imports because a lot of the acreage increase that they have is going to grains."
Carson led a CCI delegation that visited China last year, meeting with Chinese officials and touring mills.
He said there is no word on when a Chinese cotton buying delegation will visit the United States.
The Chinese were slated to come to the US last December but a textile trade tiff between the two countries after Washington slapped quotas on Chinese-made bras, bathrobes and knits led to the cancellation of the trip.
Industry sources said the Chinese trip may not go through until after the Lunar New Year festivities on January 22.
Historically, China has imported 3 million to 4 million (480-lb) bales of cotton annually. Carson said the Asian giant's imports should return to that level in 2004/05 after exploding in 2003/04 when harsh weather ravaged China's cotton crop.
The US Agriculture Department, in its latest monthly supply demand report, pegged Chinese 2003/04 output at 22 million bales and its consumption at 30.2 million bales. It forecast imports of 7.0 million bales.
In stark contrast, just a few months ago USDA was predicting Chinese cotton production as high as 27 million bales and imports of only 3 million to 4 million bales.
The Chinese have already imported 3.263 million running bales (RBs, 500-lbs each) of cotton from the United States, according to figures compiled by the USDA.
"There is no doubt that China is now and will continue to be a force to reckon with" in the cotton market, said Carson.
The Beltwide cotton conference is the biggest annual meeting of the US cotton industry that features projections of supply and demand trends for the coming season.