Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, a major cotton production base in Northwest China that produces about 60 percent of China's raw cotton through its intensive processing projects such as garment manufacturing is aiming to create more than 100,000 new textile jobs in 2017.

Yin Xiaodong, an official in the region's textile industry estimated investment in the industry in the past three years exceeded 90 billion yuan, equivalent to the total from 1978 to 2013.

A total of 112,300 workers were newly recruited in the textile sector in the region in 2016, which accounted for over 50 percent of new industrial employment in the region, Yin said.

The number would account for two-thirds of planned new jobs in the region's industrial sector in 2017, or a quarter of all new jobs.

The State Council which supports the textile and garment industry in Xinjiang hopes to boost exports and also increase local employment.

According to figures released at the regional conference on economy and information technology last week, total investment in the textile sector has reached nearly 65 billion yuan ($9.39 billion) in 2016. Annual cotton spinning capacity was 15 million spindles, up 150 percent year-on-year.