URUMQI — Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, China's largest cotton growing area, is experiencing a bumper harvest of cotton this year, with a large-scale centralized picking period to usher in October.

In 2020, the total area of cotton fields reached 2.51 million hectares in the region, basically the same as that in 2019, according to the regional bureau of statistics.

The cotton is growing well this year and is expected to reap a bumper harvest, according to the regional department of agriculture and rural affairs.

The production in more than 90 percent of cotton fields in northern Xinjiang has been fully mechanized, and the mechanization rate of cotton harvesting in southern Xinjiang has also been increasing year-on-year.

In 2019, Xinjiang's mechanized cotton harvesting area topped 766,667 hectares, exceeding 40 percent of the total for the first time.

Xinjiang has ranked first in the country's total cotton output, per unit output and planting area for 25 consecutive years, according to local authorities.