Two craftsmen make bamboo products at a workshop in Anji county, Zhejiang province, on Aug 2. [Photo by Weng Xinyang/Xinhua]

Anji county in East China's Zhejiang province, known for its bamboo plantations, has been working to improve its bamboo industry by blending traditional crafts with innovative modern techniques and methods.

Anji is a production base for bamboo products, but due to the limitations of traditional modes and an outflow of workers, the county's bamboo industry has not been developing properly.

To get out of this difficulty, Anji officials called on people at local villages to learn the traditional arts of bamboo weaving, carving and making bamboo fans. The government played a leading role in boosting the industrial transformation by building brands, developing sales channels, innovating techniques and improving services for local workshops.

To spread awareness of its bamboo industry, the county government seized the opportunity brought about by the G20 Hangzhou Summit in 2016 to provide bamboo products such as bamboo art wares and souvenirs for the main venue of the event.

Anji's bamboo industry, which employs nearly 50,000 workers, achieved a  total output of 20 billion yuan ($2.98 billion) in 2016. The number of companies specializing in bamboo products reached 1,360, 61 of which had more than 20 million yuan in annual business volume.