HANOI, Oct. 9 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam spent over 9.7 billion U.S. dollars importing cloth in the first nine months of this year, posting year-on-year increase of 3.2 percent, according to the country's Ministry of Industry and Trade on Wednesday.
Its largest import market of cloth was China, followed by South Korea and Japan.
Between January and September, Vietnam imported more than 1.1 million tons of cotton worth roughly 2.1 billion U.S. dollars, down 7.8 percent in volume and 12.2 percent in value.
The country also spent more than 1.8 billion U.S. dollars importing 822,000 tons of yarn in the same period, up 3.8 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively.
In 2018, Vietnam poured 12.9 billion U.S. dollars in importing cloth, up 13.5 percent, over 3 billion U.S. dollars in importing cotton, up 28.5 percent and 2.4 billion U.S. dollars importing yarn, surging 32.7 percent.
Vietnam reaped 30.4 billion U.S. dollars from exporting garments and textiles last year, up 16.6 percent against 2017, mainly to the United States, Japan and China, according to the country's General Statistics Office.
