New Trends of Chinese Silk Industry

 

 

 

Mr. Wu Jingen

Vice president of China Silk Association, CEO of Zhejiang Cathaya International Co., Ltd.

 

 

Dear friends,

Good afternoon!

Thanks to chairman Li Jilin's invite, letting me make a speech on behalf of the Chinese silk enterprises at the conference. I also thank the Italian Silk Office for their careful arrangement, creating many opportunities for exchanges and studies.

Silk is an industry with a long history, it can be passed down to today because of its unique charm. Since the 21st century, with the development of science and technology, especially the development of digital information technology, human production and lifestyle have undergone tremendous changes. The changes have also deeply affected this ancient industry. The world is concerning: Where is the future production base of silk materials? Where is the future of silk technology advancement? Where is the future of silk consumer market?

Focusing on the above three issues, I share my own information and personal opinions here.

1.Where is the future production base of silk materials ?

With the economic development and ageing of sericulture farmers, sericulture production in eastern China (Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong) has shrunk sharply. Taking Zhejiang as an example, the current production of silkworm cocoons is less than a quarter of the peak period.

 

Production of Zhejiang silkworm cocoons (2010-2017), unit: 10,000 tons

 

It is reported that Brazil's silk production is currently only about 20% of the peak period.

 

Brazilian silkworm cocoons and raw silk production, unit: tons

 

After the Sericulture Moving from East to West, the development of Guangxi has made up for the gap in quantity, but European users have been worried that good silk materials will become less and less. Moreover, in the recent two years, due to the expansion of the cultivation of oranges in Guangxi, the production of silkworm cocoons also declined. 

 

Oct. 2016 - Oct. 2018, silk price trend of class B

 

The industry's fears are not unreasonable. The reduction in production and increase in domestic consumption in China have stimulated the rise in prices for more than two years.

The rise in price has slowed down the decline in production in the old areas of sericulture.

 

Year-on-year's decline rate of Zhejiang silkworm cocoons production

 

At the same time, the Chinese policy of Poverty Alleviation and Rural Vitalization are also guiding the cultivation of mulberry in the suitable western region. As far as I know, mulberry has developed in Baise Guangxi, Dehong Yunnan, Guang'an and Yibin in Sichuan, the development trend is good.

 

Mulberry garden in Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guizhou area, unit: 10,000 mu

 

While developing the mulberry, China is also trying to improve the quality of cocoons through the innovation of the sericulture model and the breeding of sericulture varieties. The Ministry of Commerce of China (The National Cocoon and Silk Coordination Office) has introduced a policy to encourage large-scale sericulture.

The family farm mode of Tianhong Sichuan and Xinyuan Jiangsu

 

Breeding room of young silkworm in Tianhong, Sichuan

 

Through the farm-style operation of sericulture, they can achieve uniform seed supply, uniform young silkworm breeding, uniform technical services, and uniform purchase of silkworm cocoons according to standards. This can solve a series of problems such as advanced technology of sericulture, labor-saving sericulture and mounting technology promotion and application, high labor costs, scale benefits, and comparative benefits that can cause the silkworm farmers to lose their enthusiasm for sericulture.

The “young silkworm breeding base + farmer” mode in DH SILCO, Yunnan

 

Sericulture base in DH SILCO

 

With the mode of base and farmer, DH SILCO has built dozens of sericulture bases in the Yunnan province and Myanmar, unified breeding of young silkworms to 2-3 years old, and then distributed to farmers, sent professional technicians to guide farmers. This kind of nanny-style way, the actual feeding time of farmers is only about 10 days. For farmers who have no experience in sericulture, the survival rate of silkworms is improved, and the quality of silkworm cocoons is also guaranteed.

The mode of whole-age artificial diet factory sericulture in Babei, Zhejiang

 

Factory sericulture in Babei

 

The project about whole-age artificial diet factory sericulture developed by Babei, in view of the current situation of decline in quality and yield, has bred a special silkworm variety that suitable for the whole-age artificial diet factory sericulture, developed low-cost artificial feed formulations and their preparation techniques, constructed an environmental system for the whole-age artificial diet factory sericulture and a technical system for silkworm disease prevention and control. At present, a nearly 6,000 square meters factory of whole-age artificial diet factory sericulture and mechanized feed production line has been built and put into use with an annual output of 200 tons.

Breeding and promotion of male silkworm varieties in Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences

 

Male silkworm

 

Developing the breeding of new male silkworm varieties in the form of project, especially the male silkworm varieties in summer and autumn; The original male silkworm species, breeding and traits optimization of original species; Focusing on the improvement of silkworm cocoon quality and high grade raw silk materials, research and formulate the technical standards and specifications in egging, feeding, mounting, and drying. At present, a generation of hybrids has transferred the Hangzhou silkworm farm and authorized Cathaya to exclusively promote.

From the above information, can we form such a basic judgment: Chinese sericulture production has entered a new development track, the raw material base of the future silk is still in China, especially in Guangxi, Sichuan and Yunnan-Kweichow Plateau.

2.Where is the future of silk technology advancement?

2.1 Gene technology will affect the breeding of silkworm varieties

Study on the color cocoons and non-silkworm gene introduction worked by Zhejiang University.

 

Color cocoons

 

After more than ten years of breeding, the first practical color silkworm cocoon variety “Jinqiu × Churi” developed by Zhejiang University was carried out in Jun 2018. Based on the applied molecular biology technology to study pigment formation mechanism and genetic mechanism of natural colored silkworm cocoons, they created a series of basic silkworm varieties of natural color cocoons such as red, yellow, green, pink and orange, etc. The team introduced the target, adopted the breeding method of back cross and hybrid, directional selected and bred, the silkworm cocoons and silk showed the natural and noble golden yellow.

2.2 Digital technology will affect the entire process of production and sales

Improvement of silk reeling machine by Zhejiang Sci-Tech University and Hangzhou Textile Machinery

 

Axial schematic diagram of new type of silk reeling equipment

 

Through the research on the drying process of silk thread and the soft process, the oiling (impregnation), overfeeding, broken thread self-stop, thread tension control structure are designed, and the traditional process is transformed into the directly barrel process. The barrel process ensures raw silk strength, elongation at break and softness, and solves the key technical problems of the process. It conforms to the development direction of “Intelligent, short process, energy conservation” of silk making technology.

Development of new fabrics variety through mathematical modeling theory by Cathaya

Cathaya satin new variety design

 

Cathaya develops new silk products with special organizational structure and texture through mathematical modeling and computer intelligence technology. The digital generation method pioneered by this technology can not only quickly generate large-scale pseudo-natural textures (such as rocks, swamps, rain fogs, ice cracks, etc.) with high randomness that humans cannot reach, but also solve the problem of designer's hand-consuming time and texture scale Limits, unnatural patterns, etc. It can also adjust the texture's correspondence by fine-tuning the parameters. The warp and latitude can be highly balanced in one cycle, which can perfectly solve the problem of texture seamless stitching.

Atexco digital printing equipment and Wensli double-sided printing technology

Atexco digital printing equipment

 

With the increasing awareness and measures of environmental protection in China, the traditional printing and dyeing factories in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta have been shut down a lot, and a small printing factory (workshop) has been replaced. The digital printing technology is becoming more and more mature. The double-sided printing technology is actually a precise positioning printing technology.

Trial production of electronic testing equipment produced by Zhejiang Silk Science & Technology Co. Ltd.

 

Electronic testing equipment produced by Zhejiang Silk Science & Technology

 

In order to further promote raw silk electronic testing technology and realize industrial application, Zhejiang Silk Science & Technology is developing and upgrading related testing equipment. At present, they have completed the stereotype of definite spindle and digital raw silk electronic testing equipment, and established two new application demonstration point of raw silk electronic testing equipment. Next, they will continue to do better in the drafting of “raw silk electronic testing grading standard”.

Intelligent workshop in High Fashion

 

High Fashion preparation workshop

 

Intelligent silk double-twist workshop of High Fashion achieved remote control using mobile APP. Through the use of big data and cloud computing technology, the number of employees is effectively reduced, the energy consumption is greatly reduced, the production efficiency and product quality are greatly improved, and the intelligent management of the workshop is initially realized.

Ancient silk needs to embrace contemporary technology, especially in the use of genetic and digital technologies.

3. Where is the future of silk consumer market?

In the present, silk must be adhered to the combination of high-end and fast fashion;

In the present, silk must be combined with traditional markets and open up emerging markets (especially the Chinese market);

Cooperation between ISU members can win more market space.

The recent decline in silk price is related to the decline in demand of Chinese domestic market. And the unstable of Chinese silk consumption is mainly due to the lack of brands that worthy of consumer loyalty. Let us work together to build a silk brand that Chinese consumers trust. It is a huge market.