A herd of yaks graze in Aba Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture. [Photo/cnjxol.com]

The chambers of commerce and industry in Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang province and Aba Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture in Southwest China's Sichuan province recently agreed to cooperate in yak hair utilization.

On Nov 3, the Jiaxing chamber of commerce and industry established a special-purpose fund for yak hair projects.

"The fund will be used to promote the breeding of yak producing high-quality hairs among herdsmen in Aba, update the tools used to collecting yak hairs by local herdsmen, and cultivate more young herdsmen," said Zhang Huaming, president of the Jiaxing chamber of commerce and industry, as well as chairman of EP YAYING Fashion Group.

Renowned as the "boat of the plateau", yaks produce milk and meat, while their fur can also be made into leather.

Therefore, the two places decided to combine the fashion industry in Jiaxing with the high-quality yak hairs in Aba to form a full industrial chain of yak hairs, featuring pasturing, yak hair collecting, washing, textiles, ready-made clothing manufacturing, as well as marketing.

Industrial assistance is an advantage that private businesses offer. The Aba Orient yak hair processing plant, invested in by Jiaxing-based Zhejiang Orient Industrial Group Co Ltd, is expected to increase the income of local herdmen and farmers by exploring the economic value of yak hairs.

"The income earned by local villagers in local plants is no less than that they earn outside their hometown," said a staff member from the Aba chamber of commerce and industry.

Moreover, the Jiaxing chamber of commerce and industry has also organized local companies to purchase farm produce in Aba, as well as helped local farmers promote their produce online.

Jiaxing started its partner assistance program with Aba in 2017. Since then, the two places have forged closer cooperation and in recent years, Aba has made significant improvements in its environmental protection, economic development, as well as public wellbeing improvement.