BEIJING, Dec. 26 -- China's cotton output recorded a stable increase in 2022 as sound weather conditions led to a higher yield per hectare, official data showed Monday.

The country produced nearly 5.98 million tonnes of cotton in 2022, up 4.3 percent year on year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The yield per hectare rose 5.3 percent to 1,992.2 kg.

Thanks to sunny weather and suitable precipitation, the yield per hectare in Xinjiang, the country's largest cotton-growing area, rose 5.5 percent, NBS official Wang Guirong said. Xinjiang contributed 90.2 percent of the country's total cotton output this year.

The total area of cotton fields in the country edged down 0.9 percent from last year to around 3 million hectares, the NBS data revealed.