China International Cotton Conference Concluded in Xinjiang

The 2007 China International Cotton Conference washeld on June 27-29 in Urumqi, Xinjiang Municipality,China. With the theme "China's Cotton Industry on WTOand It's Implications The Global Market". the Conferenceproceeded with three main sessions, one focusing on theshort-term outlook for world cotton and cotton textilemarkets with emphasis on development experiences andchallenges in major producing and consuming countries, thesecond session assessed trends and perspectives of globalfiber consumption, cotton production and consumption andtheir impacts on the world cotton market, the third sessiondiscussed challenges and options facing the Chinese cottonindustry under the rapid expansion of the textiles industries.Round-table Q&A periods were also organized to addressvarious issues related to the world cotton price and tradepolicies and practice in China. An additional special businesssession provided an opportunity for international traders toexchange information with their Chinese counterparts toexplore the opportunities to participate in Chinese domesticcotton trade.

The agenda is given here for you to get a glimpse of whatwas talked about and who did all that so as to follow up withtheir speeches in our coming issues.

June 27

Welcome Address by the Organizing Committee

Greeting Speech by Provincial Government of Xinjiang

Keynote Speech: The Chinese Cotton Industry under WTOand its Implications for the Global Market by Zhou Shengtao,president of CCA

12:00-14:00

Session 1. The latest developments and short-termoutlook of the world cotton market: experiences andchallenges

(1)World cotton market-Overview of short-termdevelopments

Ray Butler, Cotton Outlook

(2)Analysis and outlook for the Chinese cotton demand andsupply in the short run

Shi Jianwei, China Cotton Association

(3)Prospects of US cotton production and consumptionCarol Skelly, World Agricultural Outlook Board, USDA

(4) Cotton Market OutlookJoe Nicosia, Allenberg Cotton Company

(5) Prospects for the 2007 U.S. Farm BillJames Johnson, Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA

(6)Short-term outlook for Uzbekistani cotton productionand consumption

Ministry for Foreign Economic Relations Investments andTrade of Uzbekistan

(7) The important role of NCC in developing cottonindustry

Larry McClendon, National Cotton Council of USA

(8) Organic cotton: an opportunity for tradeMatthias Knappe, International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO

(9) Short-term outlook for Indian cotton production andconsumption

K . F. hunjhunwala, East Indian Cotton Association

(10) Managing the global cotton supply chainBurton Levin, Noble Group

18:30-20:00

Session 11: Trends in global fiber production andconsumption and their impacts on the world cottonmarket

(1)The two track treatment of cotton in the DOHADevelopment Round-recent developments

Chiedu Osakwe, WTO

(2)Latest developments in Chinese textiles and clothingindustry and their impacts on demand for cotton

Zhu Lanfen, China Cotton Textiles Association

(3)The development of Good Agricultural Practice (GAP)of growing cotton today - How Brazil has met the challenge

Andrew Macdonald, Brazilian Cotton Growers Associationof Brazil

(4)The role of the USDA cotton classification system andcertified cot-ton warehouses in the US cotton circulation system

Darryl Earnest, USDA

June 28

(5)Factors Driving Chinese Domestic Fiber Consumption

Ke Bingsheng, Research Center for Rural Economy (RCRE)of the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA)

(6)The market potentials of Chinese textiles andopportunities and challenges facing the Chinese cotton industry-an econometric analysis

S. Shui,FAO

(7)Introduction of the ICA rulesPeter Wakefield, International Cotton Association

(8)Introduction of the European cotton rulesDidier Mercier, French Cotton Association

(9)Development of the cotton-textile-garment value chainin Africa:

Yuen Hoi Lee, UNIDO

12:00-14:00

Session Ⅲ: Challenges and options facing the Chinesecotton industry

(l)State Macro-control policies toward the cotton industryand latest development in the reform of the cotton qualitycontrol system

Ma Zhanping, the National Development and ReformCommission

(2)State financial policies and instruments to support thecotton industry under WTO rules

Zeng Xiaoan, Ministry of Finance

(3)The Chinese cotton industry under WTO

Cheng Guoqiang, Development Research Center of StateCouncil

(4)Chinese cotton production potentials and policymeasures to increase cotton outputMa Shuping, Ministry of Agriculture

(5)Support to the sustainable development of the Chinesecotton industry using Bank's financial leverage

Xia Wensheng, Agricultural Development Bank of China

(6)Establishing and developing an integrated marketingservice system to speed up the process of Chinese cotton marketliberalization

Wang Huaigui, China National Cotton Exchange

(7)Development and Outlook of the Xinjiang CottonProduction

Li Hongyun, Department of Agriculture of Xinjiang UygurAutonomous Region

(8) Outlook for Chinese man-made fiber productionZheng Zhiyi, President, China Chemical Fibres Association

(9)China's cotton balance sheet revisited: supply side issuesFrancis Tuan and Stephen MacDonald, USDA

June 29

(10)Latest developments in trade in textiles

Jean-Pierre Lapalme, WTO

(11)Analyzing the impacts of the sliding scale duty oncotton imports over TRQ on the Chinese cotton marketTan Yanwen, South China Agricultural University

(12)Factors driving Chinese cotton growers' income afterjoining WTO

Du Min, Research Center for Rural Economy (RCRE) ofthe Ministry of Agriculture (MOA)

(13) Developments and prospects of the China's cottontextile industry

Wang Gongzhu, Anhui Huamao Group Co., LTD.