An Empirical Study On The Development Of Guangxi Silk Industry In The Context Of "Sericulture Moving From East To West"

China is the birthplace of mulberry planting and silkworm rearing, and lays at the top of the world in the production, processing and trade of silk until now, which makes China in the dominant place in the international market. In China, the main production base of sericultural industry was long distributed over the eastern region, such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang provinces. But the scale of cocoon production in eastern region was gradually reducing, and the cocoon yield proportion of national output in eastern region steadily falling since the mid1990s. In the new century, with our country entering WTO and the implementation of the "western development", the development strategy of "Sericulture transferring from East to West" was put forward by relevant national departments. Located in the western area, Guangxi has seized the opportunity to develop sericulture energetically. The sericulture in Guangxi has achieved two steps in10years, the first step was that the cocoon yield has ascend to the first place in the country at the end of "the tenth five-year" plan, the second step was that the silk production was on the top of the country at the end of "the eleventh five-year" plan. Guangxi is becoming the largest production and processing base of silk in China.This paper made systematic research on the development of sericulture in Guangxi under the background of "Sericulture transferring from East to West", combined the research methods of theory and practice, the analysis method of qualitative and quantitative. The specific methods were document research, field investigation, questionnaire survey, comparative analysis and statistical analysis etc. Based on industrial structure theory, competitive advantage theory, life cycle theory, innovation theory and so on, this research established a research theory framework of the development of sericulture in Guangxi. Concerned on three main factors as economic benefits, government policy, science and technology, emphasis on researching the substantial achievements and existing problems in all the process of industrial chain during the transfer process of sericulture from eastern place; analyzed the effect that the main factors promote industrial development, and their relationship; studied on the effective way that promoted the sustainable development of sericulture in Guangxi at the same time. The following conclusions could be drawn from the study:1. It is inevitability for the industrial shift of sericulture in China, and Guangxi has effectively and orderly facilitated the shift of sericultural industry from east to west. Sericulture is a labor-intensive industry, which indicating the trend that sericulture would transfer from developed regions to developing regions. Since2000, the area of mulberry field, cocoon yield and silk yield of Guangxi accounted for more and more proportion of nationwide year by year, the scale benefit was rapidly improved, and the cocoon yield in Guangxi have ranked first in the country for several years, which help Guangxi played a decisive role in China and even the world. The first shift of sericultural industry for Guangxi was mulberry planting and silkworm rearing, and the second shift was silk processing, both of them had succeeded in "Sericulture transferring from East to West" and "Silk transferring from East to West". Moreover, the development of sericulture in Guangxi was in the rapid growth stage since the time of implementing "Sericulture transferring from East to West", the main economic indicators are all in the rapid growth. Compared with the recession period of national sericulture, the sericulture in Guangxi shows the basic characteristics of a sunrise industry, and has been a new advantageous and characteristic industries that promoted the peasant incomes and intra-county economic development in Guangxi.2. Economic benefits, government policy, science and technology relate and interact with each other, jointly promoted the rapid growth and development of Guangxi sericulture. Economic benefit is the means to promote industrial development. Government policy is the key to guide the development of the industry. Through intensifying institutional innovation, promoting fair competition, opening cocoon markets, strengthening policy guidance and increasing financial support, the government organized farmers to plant mulberry and rear silkworm, encouraged enterprises to invest and set up factories with some measures under the resource endowment and market demand. The farmers and enterprises transferred a behavioral intention of the independent development of sericultural production under the high economic benefits, so that realized the effective allocation of resources, the free flow of production factors, and promoted the expansion of the industry scale, the optimization of the industrial structure and industrial layout, which help the market play a decisive role in the allocation of resources. Furthermore, under the combined action of the internal and external factors of economic benefits and government policy, there are new dynamics infused to promote the science and technology innovation of sericulture in Guangxi, strongly supported the industrial development and industrial upgrading. Therefore, this is the basic reason that "Sericulture transferring from East to West" founded on Guangxi, and this research showed this with theory and practice.3. The development of sericulture in Guangxi have some inner advantages and some inner disadvantages at the present stage, the opportunities and challenges were coexist. The advantages included that resource endowment, the high comparative profit, the strong innovation of science and technology, the flexible market mechanism, lots of government support and the appropriate management system, etc. At the same time, there were also some inner disadvantages, such as weak infrastructure, inferior silk quality, lagging deep-processing, insufficient capital investment, deficit technical personnel and the poor organization management, etc. In addition, there were some other advantages for the developing opportunities of sericulture in Guangxi, such as the policy support of government is increasing, the cooperation of regional economy is strengthen, the market demands is sustained and stable growth, the center of regional industry is forming and so on; but there also were some challenges that the market prices of cocoon and silk are highly fluctuating, the competition from home and abroad is increasing, silk is substituted for other fibres, some natural calamities are happening frequently, and other efficient crops are affecting the sericulture, etc.Therefore, this research has constructed the SWOT analysis matrix. Through the model of industrial development strategies, suggested the development of Guangxi sericulture should insist "produce an advantage, overcome disadvantages, take the opportunity and defuse the threat", so that to select the fitting industrial development strategies, further make sericulture in Guangxi become bigger, stronger and excellent, promote its status and influence in the national and international market, and build the new"Silk Road".