China imported US$2.69 billion worth of textile machinery in the first seven months of this year, a growth of 28 percent on the same period of last year, according to the General Administration of Customs.

The growth rate was 8.8 percentage points higher than that for the whole of last year.

Of the total arrivals, foreign-funded companies made up US$1.22 billion worth, or 45.4 percent, private businesses accounted for 740 million dollars worth, or 27.6 percent, and state-owned enterprises, US$590 million worth, or 21.8 percent.

A majority of 78.4 percent of the textile machinery arrivals came from the European Union and Japan, with the former providing US$1.26 billion worth, or 46.8 percent, and the latter, US$850 million worth, or 31.6 percent.

Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces were the top three importers, accounting for 71 percent of the total arrivals.

Customs sources attributed the fast growth in textile machinery imports to growing domestic demand for better equipment to used for production upgrading.