May. 16, 2012 (China Knowledge) - The 36,700 textile enterprises each with annual core business revenue of at least RMB 200 billion in China saw their gross output rise 14.7% YoY to RMB 1.24 trillion in the first quarter of this year, according to figures from the National Development and Reform Commission.

The growth rate was 16.92 percentage points lower than that in the same period of 2011.

The output of yarn grew 13.11% YoY to 7.17 million metric tons in the first three months, and that of cloth grew 16.23% to 13.82 billion meters. The industry produced 5.85 billion garments and 8.78 million metric tons of chemical fiber in the period, reflecting Y-o-Y growth of 7.95% and 13.5%, respectively.

The industry saw significant slowdown in the exports of textile products, which rose only 1.4% YoY to US$20.44 billion in the first quarter, after increasing 32.7% in the corresponding period of last year. The exports of garments were US$29.57 billion in the period, up 3.9% YoY, after growing 15.9% in the first quarter of 2011.

These textile enterprises booked a gross profit of RMB 33.42 billion in the first two months, reflecting a decline of 2.21% YoY. The industry's profit margin dropped 0.65 percentage points to 4.6% in the period.