Major Chinese Textile Producer Reports ProfitsShandong Province in east China, one of the country's top three textile producers, reported 600 million yuan (about 72 million U.S. dollars) of profits generated by its textile industry during the first half of the year, a year-on-year increase of 165 percent.Combined sales of all major textile enterprises in the province amounted to 14.5 billion yuan (1.7 billion US dollars) in the January-June period, up 34 percent. Experts attributed the upward trend to a massive national program to restructure the industry, which had suffered losses for years. Official figures indicate that by the end of last year, China had cut down its textile production capacity by scraping 9.06 million outmoded spindles, ending the industry's five-year streak of operating in the red with a net profit of 800 million yuan (96.3 million US dollars) in 1999. Shandong has so far reduced its total number of textile enterprises from 346 to 224, with its outdated spindles decreasing by 810,000. The province has also made efforts to develop dozens of new and high-tech products. Investment to this end so far this year added up to 2.3 billion yuan (277 million US dollars). |
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