County led from poverty by lowly critters that make silk

In a large cement-block structure with its floor consisting of rows of mulberry leaves crawling with baby silkworms, Yin Shouquan from the Kunming University of Science and Technology in Yunnan province considers this to be his office.

The fine silk threads produced by the worms, which are then processed into scarves, pajamas and underwear for some of the world's most luxurious brands, have not only made the 32-year-old electronics engineering major one of the highest paid among his university classmates, but also helped lift his hometown out of poverty.

Longchuan, meaning the place where elephants trumpet in the language of the Dai ethnic group, is situated in the western corner of Yunnan province, which borders Myanmar and is populated by the Han people, as well as other ethnic groups including the Dai and Jingpo.

Since last year, three years after the regional government convinced a silk tycoon from Zhejiang province to relocate his mulberry farms and factories, Longchuan has not been listed as a provinciallevel poverty-stricken county.

The place once had more than 14,000 poverty-stricken households, with annual incomes not exceeding 3,200 yuan ($476) per capita.

"The way we are developing the silk industry to drive economic growth is different from other places," said Yao Yongliu, Party chief of the county's Long'an village, one of the first places to grow mulberries, the food of silkworms. That was where Yin found his fortune.

"With the unique geographical and climate advantages of Yunnan, we plan to extend the industry by combining both agriculture and industrial manufacturing," Yao said.

Yunnan has historically been a strategic location on the ancient southern Silk Road, linking China with Myanmar, India and eventually to Europe. Its amiable climate, with springlike weather all year, is also believed to be helpful for producing high-quality silk.

According to the blueprint of the county government, there will be 13,300 hectares of mulberry farms by the end of 2022. For each hectare, mulberry farmers can reap 5,000 to 7,000 yuan of profit.

The plan is also in line with the "east-to-west silk relocation" project initiated by China's central government in 2006.

As urbanization replaces the majority of farmland, and modern industries such as finance and IT push up labor costs in China's eastern coastal area, the central government is offering subsidies to encourage silk manufacturers and lower-tier governments in western areas to develop the industry.

China has long been the world's largest producer, exporter, manufacturer and consumer of silk. The total amount of raw silk produced in China was nearly 140,000 tons in 2017, according to latest figures available. Meanwhile, processed silk weighs in at around 7,600 tons.

Yunnan is the latest to develop the silk industry, following the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region and Sichuan province. It is more profitable than sugar cane or corn.

Yin, who made 120,000 yuan last year - almost triple the average income of urbanites in Kunming - plans to triple his mulberry farms to nurture silkworms next year by leasing more land from neighbors and relatives. However, he is concerned that it will be more challenging to talk them into giving up their fields than it was back in 2015, because it is now widely known that silkworms are money-spinners.