More than half of China's cotton consumption will be imported by 2010 as domestic demand outstrips production, People’s Daily reported. According to Zhou Shengtao, president of the China Cotton Association, China's dependence on imported cotton stood at 45 percent. Cotton consumption grew 15.1 percent annually from 2000 to 2005, much faster than the 5.3 percent yearly growth rate for output, said the paper. He also urged government departments and industry heads to regulate the market in a scientific, effective and reliable way to protect the interests of cotton growers who were the victims of past price wars.