Chongqing - Chongqing currently has six silk industrial parks, producing 24.34 million meters of natural silk fabrics, ranking third in the country. The total annual output value of the silk cocoon industry exceeds Five billion yuan (approx. 690 million USD), employing over 200,000 people, according to the national-level sericulture and silk industry conference held in Fengjie County between June 17 and June 19.
Sericulture and silk production in Chongqing has a history of over 4,000 years, dating back to the Xia Dynasty, given the information from the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce. Chongqing is one of China's top 10 sericulture regions, with 22 districts and counties engaged in mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing. The mulberry plantation area has remained stable at around 400 square kilometers.
"Fengjie has a long and rich history of sericulture and silk industry development. For thousands of years, the cultivation of mulberry trees, silkworm rearing, and silk production has been widespread and uninterrupted," said Gong Yisheng, the Governor of Fengjie County.
Guests were invited to tour a local sericulture plant that adopts an intelligent sericulture farming system. (Photo/Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce)
In recent years, the county's sericulture and silk planting area has reached about 73.3 square kilometers, with cocoon production reaching 3.8 million kilograms in 2022 and the output value reaching 500 million yuan, bringing economic benefit to over 80,000 folks.
According to information from the Fengjie County People's Government, they are cooperating with Xiangfei Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. to develop and promote an intelligent sericulture farming system, which has increased sericulture production efficiency by 28 times compared to traditional methods.
Xiangfei Intelligent Technology is engaged in silk production, sales, sericulture technology research and development, and other businesses in Chongqing, with overseas factories built in Vietnam. It mainly exports its silk products to India.
The company takes advantage of the Belt and Road Initiative, actively cooperating with countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt and laying out the entire cocoon and silk industrial chain, improving Chongqing's silk brand awareness.
The national-level sericulture and silk industry conference, themed "Empowering with Technological Innovation and Promoting Diversified Integration," established a national platform for high-quality development in the sericulture and silk industry, bringing together top experts to discuss the industry's future development.
A strategic cooperation signing ceremony was also held at the event, with strategic cooperation reached between the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Commerce and the Sichuan Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.