China plans to develop more silkworm breeding bases in its central and western regions, aiming to help raise the incomes of inland farmers and expand the country's silk cocoon exports, according to a senior Chinese official of commerce.

Under a program launched recently by the Ministry of Commerce, China will build 200 hi-tech, market-oriented silkworm breeding bases each covering about 670 hectares, said Huang Hai, assistant minister of commerce.

Huang, who is also director of the National Cocoon and Silk Coordination Office, said nine export-oriented silkworm breeding zones will take shape in the west, southwest, central and northeast China over the next five years.

Silkworming breeding originated in China's temperate east of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. With a history of more than 5,000 years, it nurtured China's earliest silk spinning and weaving industry which in turn lead to ancient China's Silk Road.

Recent report shows China has taken more than 70 percent of global shares in cocoon and silk production and trade. The export of silk products helped the country earn nearly 4 billion US dollars in foreign exchange every year.

Huang said the labor-intensive silkworm industry in China's relatively developed coastal region is suffering from rising labor and land costs.

However, vast sloping fields and wilderness land in central and western regions are suitable for growing mulberry bushes, the leaves of which are the staple food of silkworms, said Huang.

The Ministry of Commerce has indicated that the construction of the new silkworm breeding zones could lead to a substantial increase in the incomes of western farmers which would help bridge the wealth gap between eastern and western regions.

Farmers in China earned more than 50 billion yuan (6.25 billion US dollars) from harvesting cocoons spun by silkworms over the past five years. Their annual incomes have risen by an average of 10 percent, according to the ministry's statistics.

Silkworm farmers in northwestern China's Shaanxi Province, northern Gansu Province and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region have earned average annual income of 30,000 yuan (some 3,750 U.S. dollars) per hectare, much higher than they earned raising common agricultural products.

In Guangxi, where the subtropical climate is more favorable, silkworm breeding yields 52,500 yuan (some 6,560 U.S. dollars) per hectare per year for a farmer.

Source: Xinhua