Farmers in central China's Hubei Province are finding fresh opportunities as pillar industries like crayfish, tea and clothing open wider channels for jobs and income.

In many Chinese county-level regions, one distinctive industry often serves as the backbone of the local economy, powering rural revitalization and helping people build better lives.

Year-round crayfish farming

Qianjiang is a county-level city in Hubei that is well-known for its crayfish. Every summer, the small crustaceans generate big business, and to the delight of locals, the hustle and bustle now lasts much longer.

At the ponds in Zhangjiayao, a village in Qianjiang, Li Fujian had just released his fourth batch of juvenile crayfish this year, which will make their way to consumers by early winter.

"By raising crayfish, I earned nearly 300,000 yuan (about 42,236 U.S. dollars) last year, with winter income accounting for nearly two-thirds of the total," the 59-year-old farmer said with a grin.

In the past, earning so much in winter was impossible for him. As temperatures dropped, the crayfish would burrow to hibernate, bringing the harvest to a complete halt.

However, things changed when a pilot program for year-round crayfish production was launched in 2023, and farmers learned to regulate water temperature, cultivate cold-tolerant aquatic plants and feed the crayfish with fermented foods.

According to Zhang Wei, an official with the Qianjiang Crayfish Industry Development and Promotion Center, from December 2024 to February 2025, farmers in Qianjiang netted 24,000 tonnes of crayfish and generated a production value of over 2 billion yuan, marking a milestone in off-season, large-scale crayfish farming and marketing.

"The year-round production not only fills the market gap, but also enhances the industry's stability and strengthens farmers' resilience to market fluctuations," Zhang said.

Better tea garden management

In the Tujia Autonomous County of Wufeng, a mountainous region in Hubei, the legacy of the global tea trade stretches back to the 18th century. Shrouded in frequent clouds, with limited sunlight and pristine air, the county has long been known as a premier tea-producing region.

Since 2023, however, Wufeng's tea industry has faced a significant labor shortage. To sustain the production of high-quality tea and support economic growth, local authorities have established 72 service teams to assist elderly farmers and others who lack the time to tend their tea gardens.

"Led by village officials, veteran farmers and tea companies, the teams offer standardized and digitalized management, providing services like deep ploughing, fertilizing, weeding, and unified pest and disease prevention and control," said Zou Tianshou, deputy director of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau of Wufeng.

"With the meticulous care of the teams, the growth, yield and quality of local tea leaves have all seen improvements," Zou added.

In 2024, the county's total tea output value reached 1.4 billion yuan, an increase of 182 million yuan from the previous year. Riding this momentum, the service teams received over 36,000 orders in 2025, reflecting the strong demand among tea farmers for efficient garden management.

Fang Chengji, leader of a service team and a returned rural migrant worker, said the new approach to tea garden management also offers villagers like him a valuable opportunity to earn additional income.

Booming clothing industry

Like many residents of the county-level city of Tianmen in Hubei, 50-year-old Peng Shaoyun has spent years working in the city's cornerstone clothing industry, running a small workshop with her family.

Recently, she decided to try something new. She enrolled in a training school to learn how to set up an e-commerce account and promote products through livestreaming. "Nowadays, people love online shopping, and we must keep up with the trend," she said.

Xiao Yang, head of the school, said that as Tianmen's clothing industry is developing rapidly, the demand for livestreamers and online store operators has seen significant growth.

"Since 2023, with government subsidies, nearly 3,000 people have received free training at our school, many of whom were previously unemployed," he said.

Official data shows that from 2021 to 2024, Tianmen's e-commerce transaction value for apparel surged from 7 billion yuan to over 50 billion yuan, up 92 percent per year.

A wave of e-commerce is sweeping across Tianmen, bringing profits and opportunities for the locals. So far, e-commerce has directly created 160,000 jobs in Tianmen's clothing industry.

Hu Kai, a fashion designer who moved back to Tianmen in 2022, said he was surprised to find that his salary here was actually on par with that in the metropolis of Guangzhou.

"I feel happy and fulfilled working in my hometown and being reunited with my family, especially now that my living standard has even improved," Hu added. Enditem