China's Xinhua writes on revival of sericulture in Azerbaijan

The Chinese state news agency Xinhua has published an article on the development of sericulture in the Azerbaijani city of Gakh, Report informs.

Xinhua notes that Azerbaijan was one of the centers of the eastern silk industry with a history of more than 1,500 years.

In the 1960-1970s, cocoon production exceeded 20,000 tons - second place in the USSR after Uzbekistan.

"In terms of quality, Azerbaijani silk was considered the best in the world and was exported to Japan, Switzerland, and Italy. But after the collapse of the USSR in the 1990s, economic ties were destroyed, collective farms disappeared, plantations were abandoned, breeds degraded, specialists left," reads the article.

The agency notes that the turning point came in 2016 - President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on state support for sericulture.

"The project to introduce new grans has begun, and the first Chinese seedlings and grans have crossed the Tien Shan and the Caspian Sea to take root again in Azerbaijan. This has become a new chapter in the cooperation between the two countries within the Belt and Road Initiative," the article says.

Azerbaijan has begun to actively purchase grans from China, incubate them and distribute them free of charge to farmers in order to increase cocoon production to 6,000 tons per year.

"In 2018, cooperation between China and Azerbaijan in the field of sericulture reached a new level. With the technical support of China, the Gakh station for breeding sericulture was reconstructed. President Ilham Aliyev and his wife attended the opening ceremony, emphasizing the importance of the project," the article says.

Xinhua, in its article, also talks about the life of farmers who, after many years, thanks to the friendship between Beijing and Baku, are once again raising sericulture in Azerbaijan.