China, the worlds largest cotton importer and a major textile producer, imported 211,000 tons of cotton in June, down 16.4 per cent year-on-year and 12.1 per cent month-on-month, the General Administration of Customs said.
Industry analysts said the decline was due to "export weakness," official Xinhua said.
Exports of textile and clothing in the first half rose 11.1 per cent to $81.7 billion but the growth rate was 6.4 percentage points less than in the same period last year.
The textile industry has also been affected by stronger Chinese currency, tight monetary policy that has made financing more expensive, higher labour costs and rising raw material prices, it said.