Cotton output in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the country's largest cotton base, is expected to grow by 22.7 percent this year, a senior official said on Thursday.

Xinjiang Communist Party of China chief Wang Lequan told a meeting of the regional Party committee that the region could produce 2.7 million tons of cotton, 500,000 tons more than last year.

He attributed the output growth to increased cultivation to 1.33 million hectares this year.

Wang said Xinjiang would cap the cotton cultivation area to ensure land for food, grain and pasture.

(Xinhua News Agency December 14, 2007)