(Into China's Villages) A Single Thread's "Smart Transformation" in Guangxi's Xincheng Creates a Billion-Yuan "New Silk Road"

In a 600-mu modern mulberry demonstration base in Hongdu Town, Xincheng County, Laibin City, Guangxi, an integrated smart irrigation and fertilization system precisely sprays across continuous mulberry fields. Not far away, in the intelligent silk-reeling workshop of the nearby silk-reeling factory, temperature- and humidity-sensing sensors regulate the environment in real time, ensuring every strand of raw silk meets the AAAAA standard. From mulberry gardens to silk factories, this "hometown of sericulture" is reinventing its millennia-old industry with technology, weaving a "new silk road" for overseas expansion.

On November 16, the interview delegation of the “Exploring Digital and Intelligent Empowerment for Industrial Development — 2025 Overseas Media Tour to Laibin” visited Xincheng County in Laibin, Guangxi, to learn about the “intelligent transformation” of a single silk thread.

Xincheng County, long renowned for its sericulture, sustains 276,000 local residents, accounting for about 65% of the county’s total population. In recent years, seizing the opportunities of "Sericulture Moving from East to West" and "Silk Moving from East to West", the region has leveraged Guangdong-Guangxi cooperation to comprehensively upgrade its industry from traditional planting and breeding to deep processing, forming a complete industrial chain spanning mulberry cultivation, silkworm rearing, cocoon harvesting, silk reeling and silk weaving.

In the Phase I workshop of the Xincheng Cocoon Silk Industrial Park, workers are busy with processes such as soaking, reeling, doubling, twisting, rewinding, weaving, and printing — transforming a single silk thread into a bolt of fabric. "We moved from Shenzhen to Xincheng precisely because of the solid industrial foundation here. There are 260,000 mu of mulberry fields and 70,000 silkworm-raising households," introduced by Wei Yichen, Executive Deputy General Manager of Guangxi Tongyi Guosi Development Co., Ltd.

Growing up in a family engaged in sericulture, Wei Yichen has witnessed the industry's transformation. "In the past, silkworm farming was entirely dependent on weather conditions, and Xincheng County only had preliminary processing like silk reeling. Now, both silkworm rearing and silk production have become technology-driven tasks," she said. The industrial park has rewritten the history of Guangxi’s lack of intelligent refining, dyeing, printing, and finishing facilities for genuine silk, and has driven the improvement of mulberry orchards in Xincheng County and surrounding areas, increasing farmers’ income per mu by more than 50%.

From cultivating "high-quality mulberry" and raising "healthy silkworms" to extending "the entire industrial chain", Xincheng County is driving industrial upgrading through technological innovation. It has intensified efforts in key areas including mulberry field improvement, cooperative rearing of young silkworms, and adult silkworm breeding. Xincheng County has established 11 standardized sericulture bases, implemented centralized factory-style rearing of young silkworms, and provided high-quality fourth-instar silkworms to farmers. Additionally, through the "Smart Silkworm House Management" 5G system, it offers remote services and technical guidance to farmers, for the purpose of improving silkworm survival rate and cocoon yield.

Today, this single thread of silk is not only weaving dreams of prosperity for local farmers but has also made its way to markets in Europe and America, becoming the designated raw material for several luxury brands. Inside the workshop of Xincheng County Hengye Silk Co., Ltd., machines draw filaments from the myriad strands of cocoons soaked in hot water, winding them onto frames. Bundles of raw silk emerge, and after being sorted by workers, radiate a soft, pearl-like luster.

Wei Menghua, the factory's financial supervisor with over a decade of experience, stated, "In the past, one ton of raw silk sold for over RMB 200,000, but now it can fetch up to RMB 500,000 — the price has doubled." Currently, the company boasts an annual output value of RMB 240 million, with half of its raw silk exported to ASEAN and Western Europe, where it is used in high-end clothing, scarves, and other fabrics.

At present, the Xincheng Cocoon and Silk Industrial Park has completed 18 standard factory buildings, covering the entire production chain including cocoon collection and drying, silk reeling, silk weaving, scouring, dyeing, and printing. Phase I has produced a total of 4.1 million meters of genuine silk, with an output value of 210 million yuan.

Wei Yichen said, "The next step involves plans to introduce apparel, home textile, and other enterprises, developing silk quilts and creating a high-end custom silk clothing brand." According to the plan, the Xincheng Cocoon Silk Industrial Park will complement its operations by adding high-value-added segments such as silk reeling, scouring, dyeing, and home textiles, weaving a new "Silk Road" for global exports.

At present, Laibin City is home to nine scale-up cocoon and silk enterprises, eight of which are engaged in silk reeling processing. In 2024, the city's raw silk output reached approximately 2,000 tons, generating a total industrial output value of RMB 1 billion.