Yizhou district in Hechi has been cultivating silk cocoons and involved silk production, and its extended industries in recent years -- in order to promote the employment of impoverished people and relieve poverty.

Currently there are more than 456,000 sericulture, or silk farmers, in 100,000 households in the district, accounting for 84.1 percent of the total rural population.

Among these, 8,694 were poverty-stricken families, making up 51.99 percent of the district's total poor households, and had an average annual income of 21,000 yuan ($2,983.5) from silkworm breeding.

The extended industries of cultivating silk cocoons and silk production are also being developed in the district.

Four industry chains involving silk and mulberry leaves – the exclusive food for the silkworm – have been built there. These include production of silk fabrics and mulberry tea.

A sales network combining online and conventional bricks and mortar shops was also completed.

To date, the 17 cocoon silk processing enterprises in Yizhou have employed a total of more than 2,600 impoverished people, with an average annual income of 45,000 yuan.

Key agricultural enterprises, including Guangxi Jialian Silk Co, were introduced into Yizhou to help boost the business model integrating leading enterprises, demonstration areas, cooperatives and poor silk farmers in the district.

So far, eight specialized cooperatives and three silk cocoon collection stations have been established in the district. The poor farmers who joined the joint business model realized an average increase of 40,000 yuan per year in their incomes.

In addition, nine other industries targeted for poverty alleviation -- including sugar canes, edible mushrooms, walnuts, Sichuan peppers, fruits, and livestock breeding -- have been developed to relieve poverty in the district.

The industry coverage in Yizhou has reached 95.15 percent now. The plantation area for mulberry trees now totals 372,000 mu (24,800 hectares) in the district, of which 23,000 mu were planted by poor people.

Officials said the income from sericulture totaled 180 million yuan per year, lifting 12,000 people out of poverty.

The poverty-stricken villages also planted nearly 3,000 ha of sugar cane, earning 82.63 million yuan annually. Fruit plantations involved 1,156 poor households, with each seeing an annual increase of 3,000 yuan in income.