HANOI, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam gained nearly 2.7 billion U.S. dollars from exporting garments and textiles in January, posting a year-on-year increase of 6.7 percent, the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association said on Thursday.

Specifically, turnovers of Vietnamese garments and textiles, including T-shirts, jackets, dresses and fabrics, exported to China surged 23.9 percent, and to Japan rose 7.6 percent.

Vietnam, which is among the world's five biggest exporters and producers of garments and textiles, posted garment and textile export turnovers of over 30.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2018, up 16.6 percent from 2017.

However, Vietnam had to spend more than 12.9 billion U.S. dollars importing cloth last year, up 13.5 percent, the association said, noting that most of local cloth has yet to satisfy quality requirements of the country's key garment export markets.