One in six Chinese textile companies lost money last year even though prices for the country’s clothing exports increased 8 per cent, according to the chairman of the China National Textile and Apparel Council.

At an industry conference in the southern province of Guangdong, where much of the textile industry is concentrated, Du Yuzhou said 17 per cent of the 44,200 textile companies tracked by the council lost money over the first 11 months of last year. This was in spite of companies benefiting from a fifth ­consecutive year-on-year rise in export prices for textiles.