America's National Cotton Council (NCC) signed an agreement with the China Cotton Textile Association (CCTA) in Beijing during a recent visit of an NCC leadership delegation to share information with the Chinese cotton/textile industries and update them on the US cotton industry. The agreement to foster enhance communication between the two group, the NCC said in a press release.

With a focus on quality, the two groups will explore opportunities to jointly promote both US raw cotton and US-manufactured yarn, as well as Chinese cotton, in an effort to combat the growing competition from synthetic fibres.

Coordinated by the NCC's export promotions arm, Cotton Council International (CCI), the visit was the seventh US cotton industry delegation to China since the establishment of the US-China Cotton Leadership Exchange Programme by the NCC and the China Cotton Association (CCA) in 2006. This ongoing exchange was initiated by a Memorandum of Understanding signed that year promising cooperation between the two countries' cotton industries.

In Beijing, delegation members heard presentations from the China Cotton Association (CCA), the CCTA and the China National Textile and Apparel Council regarding current challenges facing the cotton market.

In Hubei Province, the US delegation met the Hubei Provincial Cotton Association and visited the Hubei Yinfeng Logistic Park. The group toured Xiantao's cotton fields and Xiaogan's textile mill. In Shanghai, they toured CCI's office, met Zhangjiagang Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau and toured its cotton laboratory. The group also visited the Zhangjiagang bonded cotton warehouse and Zhangjiagang Zhongrong Logistics Company, a bonded port warehouse.

The delegation was led by NCC Chairman Shane Stephens, a warehouseman who serves as vice president of Cotton Services and Warehouse Division for Staplcotn Cooperative Association in Greenwood, Mississippi.

Stephens said that they were pleased to gain a better understanding of the challenges facing the Chinese cotton industry, which traditionally has been a strong importer of US raw cotton.