By Madeline Moore
West Texas cotton representatives pose with Chinese cotton industry leaders and their interpreter.
Cotton Council International (CCI), the export promotion arm of the National Cotton Council, recently hosted a delegation from the China Cotton Association (CCA) during the third annual U.S.-China Cotton Leadership Exchange Program. The group of eight Chinese cotton industry leaders toured the U.S. Cotton Belt Oct. 31 through Nov. 5, and PCCA hosted a working lunch in Lubbock.
This year’s visit included stops in Washington, D.C., Memphis, Tenn., and Lubbock. At each stop, the visitors got to experience a different aspect of the U.S. cotton industry. Their itinerary included: the Mid-South Cotton Industry Seminar on Cotton Production at the National Cotton Council (NCC), a visit to Cargill’s cotton warehouse where U.S. shipping and receiving logistics were explained, a West Tennessee cotton farm and ginning operation, and the USDA cotton classing office in Memphis, Tenn.
Cotton producer Mike Alexander (second from left) and PCCA’s David Canale (right) discuss the positive attributes of ‘Texas-style’ cotton with members of the Chinese delegation.
The tour continued on to Texas, where the group attended the Southwest Cotton Industry Seminar on Cotton Production, Processing and Logistics. The visit also included tours of several West Texas cotton farming and ginning operations, Farmers Cooperative Compress, and PYCO Industries. An emphasis also was placed on the research being conducted at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service Ginning Research Laboratory. The trip to Lubbock concluded with dinner and discussions with leaders from the region’s cotton industry.
Since 2006, members of the NCC also have had the opportunity to observe first-hand the Chinese cotton industry. The CCA was modeled after the organizational structure of the NCC and includes all segments of the Chinese cotton industry.
