Sihui Bamboo Steamer

Sihui Bamboo Steamer

The Sihui Bamboo Steamer is a protected geographical indication product.

　　The small bamboo steamers woven by the people of Sihui Town in Luoding are gaining popularity around the world — Malaysian airlines give them away as souvenirs; in Europe, they’ve become a novel Christmas gift; in the UK, you might even get a set when buying a suit; in London, they’re priced as high as £2.99...

　　　In western Guangdong, there is a type of bamboo called luozhu (罗竹), named for the “luo luo” sound it makes when rubbed together. In Luoding, western Guangdong, there is an important transportation hub called Sihui, which is the star of this story — a specialized town that produces luozhu. However, if the luozhu in Sihui were still being used to build melon sheds and as raw material for papermaking as it was 70 years ago, there wouldn’t be much of a story to tell. Today, many people in Sihui still turn luozhu into steamers just as they did in the 1980s, but the people of Sihui have also created a legend — let’s call it the “Bamboo Steamer Legend.”

　　　　Since the beginning of the 21st century, steamer production in Sihui has gradually developed into a specialized advantage, thanks to the resource advantages of luozhu, with a large number of rural households engaged in processing and producing luozhu. The town’s Party committee and government have adjusted their industrial focus by making full use of local resource advantages, focusing on developing characteristic industries and adopting a “one town, one product” specialization strategy to strengthen the local economy, transforming resource advantages into economic strengths. This has led to the initial formation of a planting base mainly for luozhu, cinnamon, star anise, yellow olive, and large ginger, and a processing industry base mainly for steamers, cinnamon bark, and cinnamon oil. The production and sales of steamers have become a new highlight for Sihui’s export earnings and farmers’ income growth.

　　　　By 2003, steamer processing and sales in Sihui had reached a certain scale and become one of the town’s main specialized products. However, on the other hand, the steamer processing industry in Sihui was loose and disorganized, with low technical content in products. Most steamers were still handmade, resulting in low efficiency. The product range was relatively limited, market competitiveness was weak, and companies invested little in technology, leading to slow development. There was also a tendency toward homogenized development among enterprises, resulting in some vicious competition. In that year, Sihui was designated as a pilot town for bamboo product technical innovation by Yunfu City, marking the beginning of the “Bamboo Steamer Legend.”

　　　　In accordance with the requirements of the "Yunfu City Specialized Technical Innovation Pilot Implementation Measures," the Sihui Town Party Committee and government aimed primarily at enhancing the steamer’s ability to generate export earnings and improving the economic benefits of steamer processing. They implemented policies and measures to accelerate the specialization of steamer processing, improve production technology levels, and increase technological content. Under the strong guidance of the town committee and government, dozens of major steamer producers, processors, and sellers established the Luozhu Association. Through the joint efforts of association members, a Productivity Promotion Center and a Bamboo Product Processing and Sales Service Center were established, with processing enterprises as the main body. These centers provided technical innovation services and information services for steamer producers and processors, promoted the industrialization of bamboo products and the development of processing machinery, strongly supported the development of steamer processing enterprises, and effectively boosted the vigorous growth of the local steamer processing industry. Currently, Sihui bamboo steamer products have applied for one design patent and one utility model patent. At the same time, despite limited financial resources, Sihui increased investment in technology, unified production standards, and accelerated industrial upgrading through technological innovation. On one hand, Sihui worked to modernize processing machinery, thereby improving labor productivity. On the other hand, by accelerating the development of new products, the town aimed to seize market share. Through a series of efforts, a group of major steamer producers, processors, and sellers, represented by Li Junquan and -Song, gradually emerged, with their businesses growing stronger. As these enterprises grew, they in turn increased investment in technology, promoting the extension of the industrial chain both upstream and downstream, turning bamboo product processing into a distinctive and advantageous industry for Sihui.

　　　　Strong policies inevitably yield favorable results. With the improvement in the technological content of steamer processing, many steps previously done manually have gradually become mechanized, steamer production has steadily increased, the product range has grown richer, and the industrial chain has rapidly expanded from single steamer products to disposable tableware. This has elevated the bamboo product processing industry in Sihui to a new level. By the end of 2005, the number of households in Sihui engaged in steamer processing reached 8,870, forming four specialized processing streets and five specialized villages, with 41 major processing and sales households and 12,000 people employed in the steamer processing industry. The annual production of steamers reached 198 million units, with steamer products selling well both domestically and internationally. Sales revenue hit 156 million yuan, and export earnings exceeded 15 million US dollars. Some have commented on Sihui steamers: “Where there are Chinese people, there are Sihui steamers.”

　　　　From a macroeconomic perspective, Sihui has also undergone significant changes: the proportion of the primary industry in the town’s GDP dropped from 48% and 43% in 2000 and 2001 to 42%, while the proportion of the luozhu industry in agriculture rose from 55% and 56% in 2000 and 2001 to 60% in 2005. In 2005, the output value of bamboo products accounted for 35.98% of the total industrial and agricultural output value, and the output value of exported products accounted for 13.04% of the town’s total output value, representing year-on-year growth of 40.7% and 38% compared to 2002. In terms of industrial organization development, the “company + association + base + household” model in the bamboo product processing industry has grown rapidly, with company performance improving quickly, association member bases expanding continuously, and households able to participate in various industry segments such as luozhu planting and processing. The steamer industry has flourished throughout the town. Statistics show that the bamboo product industry alone has brought an average income of 3,500 yuan per household, becoming an important source of income growth for farmers. In addition, the development of the bamboo product industry has also had a radiating effect on small-town construction. By establishing specialized steamer processing streets, Sihui has attracted steamer specialists to build homes in the town. In recent years, over 1,000 households and 6,000 people have settled in the town center, significantly contributing to the expansion of the central town’s construction scale and driving the development of secondary and tertiary industries, making Sihui a true central town.

　　　　The Sihui Town government refers to the tremendous changes brought about by the “steamer” industry as the “Steamer Effect”: the steamer industry has not only driven the town’s economic development but has also opened up broader opportunities for the production and processing of luozhu. At the same time, the development of the industry has played a significant positive role in the overall growth of Sihui as a town. More importantly, Sihui’s “steamers” have entered the international market, providing the bamboo processing industry with a broad market foundation and promising future.

　　The production area of Sihui Bamboo Steamers includes the administrative regions of seven towns and subdistrict offices in Luoding City, Guangdong Province: Sihui Town, Tanbin Town, Jiayi Town, Longwan Town, Lishao Town, Lianzhou Town, and Fucheng Subdistrict Office.