In the early 2000s, as land costs rose in traditional sericulture regions, my country launched the "East-to-West Sericulture Relocation" initiative, shifting the industry from the Yangtze and Pearl River Deltas to the southwest. Thanks to its exceptional climate-which allows for a longer silkworm rearing season-Guangxi has become the primary destination for this industrial relocation.
Regarding industrial modernization, Hechi City in Guangxi has vigorously promoted over 70 patented technologies-such as rail-based labor-saving feeding systems, automated cocoon mounting, and automatic cocoon harvesting devices-alongside advanced techniques like collective rearing of young silkworms and the use of grid-style mounting frames. On December 3, 2025, Guangxi's first production line for pure-silk Zhuang brocade went into operation at the Hechi High-tech Industrial Development Zone, filling a gap in the region's manufacturing capabilities for this traditional textile.
Among key production areas, Hechi City-known as the "Hometown of Chinese Sericulture"-leads the nation's prefecture-level cities in fresh cocoon output; its Yizhou District alone boasted 957,500 mu of mulberry plantations and a fresh cocoon yield of 206,200 tons in 2023, while also integrating the silk industry with cultural tourism. In Fengcheng City, Liaoning, wild silkworm (Tussah) cocoon production accounts for 15% of the national total; in 2022, the city reared 17,200 batches of silkworms, producing 12,660 tons of cocoons and generating an industry-wide output value of 1.9 billion yuan, supported by a development plan (2023–2028) that fosters the integration of industry, culture, and ecology. Meanwhile, Nanchong City in Sichuan has established a complete industrial chain spanning from silkworm rearing to finished garments; home to 73 large-scale silk textile and apparel enterprises, the city saw its sericulture industry output value exceed 1.7 billion yuan in 2024 and secured investment agreements worth over 10 billion yuan at the 2025 Sichuan Silk Expo. Regarding variety breeding, the silkworm variety "Guican No. 8"-noted for its strong resistance to nuclear polyhedrosis virus (NPV) and a 5%–10% increase in cocoon yield per sheet-was selected as a "Leading Agricultural Variety" by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs for 2025, with cumulative adoption exceeding 6 million sheets. The silkworm variety "Qiuhua × Ping 30"-which offers a 20% higher silk yield than conventional varieties and produces 6A-grade raw silk-was named a national-level "Leading Agricultural Variety" in 2024; its 6A-grade raw silk has been used for fabrics in garments worn at major events such as APEC and the G20. In the field of basic research, Southwest University completed a large-scale genomic analysis of silkworm germplasm resources in October 2022, creating the world's first super-pangenome map of the silkworm.
The industry has generated significant economic benefits: in 2025, Fenggang County, Guizhou Province, purchased 713.85 tons of cocoons with an output value of approximately 43.734 million yuan, resulting in an average income increase of 80,000 yuan per sericulture household; meanwhile, the total output value of the tussah silk industry in Fengcheng City, Liaoning Province, reached 1.9 billion yuan in 2022.
