Miaomiao XU, Yueqiu HE, Wanzhen XIONG, Chengshun SONG, Zhiguo SUN

Research Base for Forging the Sense of Community for the Chinese Nation, Hubei University of Science and Technology, Xianning 437100, China

Abstract This paper firstly introduces the general situation of cotton planting areas in China and cotton industry in Xinjiang, and the current situation of intellectual property protection of Xinjiang’s cotton industry. Then, it analyzes the main problems in its intellectual property protection and high-quality development. On this basis, it comes up with the recommendations for high-quality development of cotton industry in Xinjiang under the strategy of strengthening the country with intellectual property. The recommendations include improving the level of creation of creative intellectual property rights, building an intellectual property rule system in the entire cotton industry chain in Xinjiang, building protected zones for production of major high quality agricultural product cotton, establishing a demonstration zone to undertake the transfer of the domestic cotton textile and garment industry, undertaking education on the sense of community for the Chinese nation in response to the Xinjiang cotton incident, and developing the "Belt and Road" blue market for Xinjiang cotton and its products.

Key words Xinjiang cotton incident, Protected zone for production of major high quality agricultural product cotton, Sense of community for the Chinese nation, Strategy of strengthening the country with intellectual property, High-quality development

1 Introduction

At the central conference on ethnic affairs held in Beijing on August 27 and 28, 2021, general secretary of CPC, Xi Jinping stressed forging the sense of community for the Chinese nation and unswervingly taking the correct approaches with Chinese characteristics to handling ethnic affairs, and he also called for promoting high-quality development of the Party’s work on ethnic affairs in the new era. The central conference on economic work held in Beijing on December 8 to 10, 2021 stressed promoting high-quality development and strengthening intellectual property protection.

On September 22, 2021, central committee and State Council of China released thePlanontheDevelopmentofIntellectualPropertyRightsPower(2021-2035), which describes a blueprint for China accelerating the building of IPR power: considerable achievements will be made in building an IPR power by 2025; China’s IPR competitiveness will rank among the top in the world, and basically making China a world-class IPR power with Chinese characteristics by 2035. This marks China’s transformation from a big country of intellectual property introduction to a power of creation of intellectual property, and the transformation of intellectual property work from the pursuit of quantity to the improvement of quality has accelerated in an all-round way. The Plan stressed that: drawing the blueprint: six key tasks supporting the strategy of building a strong country with intellectual property; stricter protection: strengthening the system construction and improving the protection level; quality leading: creating a powerful engine for high-quality development.

Great achievements have been made in the research on Xinjiang cotton and its industry[1-6]. In recent years, many works have been published, such asXinjiangCottonPlantingTheoryandModernCottonPlantingTechnology[1],PracticalTechnicalManualforXinjiangCottonProduction,XinjiangCottonEconomyinPolicyAdjustmentandIndustrialTransformation—2014-2015AnnualResearchReportofCottonEconomyResearchCenter,FluctuationAnalysisandEarlyWarningResearchofXinjiangCottonIndustry,StudyonInnovationandSupportPolicyofAgriculturalSocializationServiceSysteminXinjiangCottonRegionundertheNewSituation[2],StudyonthePricingofCottonIncomeInsuranceinXinjiang:DiscussionontheConstructionofCottonInsuranceSystem,StudyonModerateScaleManagementandPolicySupportofXinjiangCottonunderResourceConstraints[3],StudyonXinjiangCottonPriceFluctuationandRegulationPolicyintheContextofTradeCompetition,StudyontheImpactofTargetPriceReformontheMainBodyofXinjiangCottonProductionandManagement,andStudyonInfluencingFactorsofCottonPriceFluctuationandItsTransmissionEffect:TakingXinjiangCottonRegionasanExample. In China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), there are more than 8 500 papers with abstracts containing both "Xinjiang" and "Cotton".

The existing related works have systematically studied agricultural environment and resources, planting technology, industrial economy, management, service system, and policy support of Xinjiang cotton However, there are still many problems in the related research. (i) Few touched on the intellectual property rights of Xinjiang cotton. (ii) The important role of the intellectual property system in the high-quality development of Xinjiang’s cotton industry has not been brought into full play. (iii) High-quality development research on the Xinjiang cotton incident has not been undertaken. (iv) The establishment of a national unity and progress demonstration area (demonstration unit) in the field of Xinjiang cotton and the establishment of a sense of community for the Chinese nation have not received due attention.

In the past year or so, international organizations such as the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) in Geneva, Switzerland, the NGO "Global Legal Action Network" (GLAN), and international brands such as the Swedish apparel company H&M Group provoked the Xinjiang cotton incident[7-9]. These foreign forces have expanded the trade war on textiles with China to cotton, the textile raw material. They maliciously smeared and slandered Xinjiang cotton entirely based on lies and false information and under the guise of human rights, continued to suppress and sanction Xinjiang cotton and the textile and apparel supply chain, and boycott Xinjiang cotton and its products.

In view of the above situation, using field survey, literature collection, 3S (remote sensing, geographic information system, global positioning system) technology and other methods, we surveyed the cotton production and industry in Xinjiang. In response to the Xinjiang cotton incident, we came up with strategies for intellectual property protection and high-quality development of the cotton industry under the strategy of strengthening the country with intellectual property.

2 Cotton planting in China

2.1 Cotton planting regionsChina is the second largest cotton producer in the world. The cotton planting regions mainly include: Northwest Inland Cotton Area (including Southern Xinjiang Cotton Region, Northern Xinjiang Cotton Region, Eastern Xinjiang Cotton Region and Gansu Hexi Corridor Cotton Region), the Yellow River Basin Cotton Region (including cotton regions in Hebei, Shandong, Henan, and Tianjin), cotton regions in the Yangtze River Basin (including Hubei, Hunan, Anhui, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Sichuan and other provinces).

Among these cotton planting regions Northwest Inland Cotton Region is vast and is located in the hinterland of Eurasia. It is an arid and semi-arid desert irrigated agricultural ecological region. It has the typical continental climate characteristics of arid climate, low rainfall, large evaporation, sufficient sunshine and large temperature difference. The diversity of climate types, the accumulated temperature and the length of frost-free period have formed four distinct ecological sub-regions in the Northwest Inland Cotton Region, namely, mid-ripening cotton subregion, early and mid-ripening cotton subregion (including Yeta sub-subregion and Taha sub-subregion), early ripening cotton subregion (including Gansu Hexi Corridor Cotton Region), and extra-early ripening cotton subregion.

2.2 Production of cotton planting regionsAccording to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, China’s cotton planting area in 2021 was 3 028 100 ha. Specifically, the largest cotton production region (Xinjiang) has cotton planting area of 2 506 100 ha; Gansu cotton planting region (mainly including the Hexi Corridor) had cotton planting area of 16 200 ha; the Yellow River Basin had cotton planting area of 266 100 ha; the Yangtze River Basin had cotton planting area of 232 100 ha, and other regions (Guangxi, Fujian,etc.) had cotton planting area of 7 600 ha. In 2021, China’s cotton output was 5.73 million t, including 5.129 million t in Xinjiang, and 0.602 million t in other regions.

2.3 Protected zones for production of major agricultural product cottonTheGuidingOpinionsonEstablishingtheFunctionalZonesforGrainProductionandtheProtectedZonesforProductionofMajorAgriculturalProductsissued by the State Council (Guo Fa [2017] No.24) on April 10, 2017 determined 15 866 600 ha of protected zones for production of five major agricultural products (cotton, soybean, rapeseed, sugarcane, and natural rubber), with 5 333 300 ha overlapping with the grain production functional zones. Among them, "focusing on Xinjiang, supplemented by the main production areas of the Yellow River Basin and the Yangtze River Basin, 2 333 300 ha protected zones for production of cotton have been determined.

In 2018, the People’s Government of Xinjiang Autonomous Region issued theImplementationOpinionsonEstablishingtheFunctionalZonesforGrainProductionandtheProtectedZonesforProductionofMajorAgriculturalProducts(Xin Zheng Fa [2018] No.28), which proposed to determine protected zones for production of two major agricultural products cotton and sugar beet. The protected zone for production of cotton was 2 million ha (including 0.4 million ha in Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps).

3 Overview of cotton industry in Xinjiang

3.1 Current situation of cotton production in XinjiangXinjiang is not only the production advantage area of China’s major agricultural product cotton, but also the world’s three major production regions of high-quality long-staple cotton (sea island cotton). The cultivation of long-staple cotton and upland cotton is the pillar industry of Xinjiang’s agriculture. In recent years, the output value of long-staple cotton and upland cotton has always accounted for more than 40% of the total agricultural output value of Xinjiang autonomous region, and it is an important economic source for cotton growers of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang.

Xinjiang has basically formed three cotton production regions, namely, Southern Xinjiang Cotton Region, Northern Xinjiang Cotton Region, Eastern Xinjiang Cotton Region. Southern Xinjiang Cotton Region is located in the south of the Tianshan Mountains and around the Tarim Basin. It is the main cotton producing region in Xinjiang, including Aksu Region, Kashgar Region, Bayingoleng Prefecture, Hotan Region, Kizilsu, and the First, Second, and Third Divisions of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. Northern Xinjiang Cotton Region is located in the alluvial plain north of the Tianshan Mountains. It is the northernmost cotton region in China, including Changji Prefecture, Tacheng Prefecture, Bortala Prefecture, Shihezi City, Urumqi City, and the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth Divisions of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. Eastern Xinjiang Cotton Region includes Turpan City, Hami City, and the Thirteenth Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

Five counties (cities) producing extra-long-staple cotton (with fiber length above 35 mm) are Awati County and Shaya County in Aksu Region, Bachu County and Makit County in Kashgar Region, and Korla City in Bayingoleng Prefecture. All are in the Southern Xinjiang Cotton Region. The production of medium long staple cotton (fiber length is 33-35 mm) mainly consists of twelve counties (cities), including Aksu City, Shaya County and Kuqa City in Aksu Region of Yopurga County, Makit County, Bachu County, Shache County in Kashgar Region, Luntai County, Korla City, Yuli County, Bayingoleng Prefecture in Southern Xinjiang Cotton Region, and Usu City in Tacheng region and Jinghe County in Bortala Prefecture in Northern Xinjiang Cotton Region.

High-quality upland cotton bases are mainly distributed in 38 counties (cities and regions). Specifically, the Aksu Region includes: Aksu City, Xinhe County, Wensu County, Shaya County, Kuqa City, Awati County, and Kalpin County. The Kashgar Region includes: Yengisar County, Yopurga County, Shufu County, Zepu County, Yecheng County, Jiashi County, Shule County, Makit County, Bachu County, Shache County, and Kashgar City. Bayingoleng Prefecture includes: Luntai County, Korla City, Yuli County, Hoxod County, and Qiemo County. The Hotan Region includes Lop County, Moyu County, Hotan County, Yutian County. Kizilsu Prefecture has Akto County. Changji Prefecture includes Changji City, Manas County, and Hutubi County. The Tacheng Region includes Usu City, Shawan City, and Hoboksar Mongol Autonomous County. Bortala Prefecture includes Jinghe County and Bole City. Turpan City has Toksun County. Hami Prefecture has Yizhou District. The organic cotton bases are mainly located in Hoboksar Mongol Autonomous County of Tacheng Region.

The cotton planting divisions of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps are mainly the Eighth Division and the First Division, followed by the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Divisions.

In 2021, the cotton planting area in Xinjiang was 2 506 100 ha (including 473 300 ha in Aksu Region, 366 700 ha in Kashgar Region, and 200 000 ha in Bayingoleng Prefecture), accounting for 82.76% of the whole country. In Xinjiang, the protected zones for production of major agricultural product cotton had an area of 2 million ha (including 400 000 ha in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps), accounting for 85.71% of the whole country. The cotton output of Xinjiang was 5.129 million t, accounting for 89.50% of the whole country. In 2021, the cotton output in Xinjiang cotton region reached 2 046.4 kg/ha, much higher than 1 199.3 kg/ha in the cotton region of the Yellow River Basin and 1 049.5 kg/ha in the cotton region of the Yangtze River Basin.

Since 1996, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps had started to carry out the introduction, testing and scientific research and development of cotton picking machine. Besides, since 2001, Xinjiang machine-picking cotton had entered the stage of large-scale promotion. At present, the mechanized cotton sowing in Xinjiang is getting higher and higher, and the mechanical picking rate has exceeded 70%. Among them, the Northern Xinjiang Cotton Region has basically achieved mechanized sowing and its mechanical picking rate is as high as 95%. In fact, the cotton production in Xinjiang has already been highly mechanized, which completely lays bare the lies and false information of the so-called "forced labor".

3.2 Cotton industry chain of XinjiangThe cotton industry chain of Xinjiang includes cotton planting, cotton stalk utilization, cotton seed deep processing, cotton deep processing (spinning, weaving, dyeing), garment and home textile manufacturing, and Xinjiang cotton product sales.

3.3 Overview of cotton textile industry in XinjiangIn recent years, Xinjiang has set up many textile industrial cities in Aksu Textile Industrial City, Korla Economic Development Zone, Shihezi Economic Development Zone, Alar Economic Development Zone, Kuytun-Dushanzi Economic Development Zone, Manas-Hutubi Industrial Park, Shawan Industrial Park, Jinghe Industrial Park, Bachu Industrial Park, Tumuxuk-Caohu Industrial Park, developing the cotton textile industry, undertaking the transfer of the mainland cotton spinning and apparel industry, and the cotton spinning capacity has reached more than 18 million spindles. Weaving, apparel, home textiles, knitting and other industries have begun to take shape, and there are more than 3 000 textile and garment registration enterprises.

Specifically, Aksu Textile Industrial City has successively introduced well-known domestic enterprises such as Huafu Melange Yarn, Lianfa Textile, Youngor Textile, Xinjue Textile, Kaijia Textile, Jinliyuan Garment and Accessory, Xin’ao Knitting, Jinwei Weaving, Ruihong Carpet, Kening Knitting Technology, and Biaoxin Fiber, and has formed a scale of more than 3 million spindles of cotton spinning and more than 30 million pieces (sets) of home textiles and garments.

4 Current situation of intellectual property protection of Xinjiang’s cotton industry

The intellectual property rights related to Xinjiang cotton mainly include patents, new plant varieties, biological genetic resources, traditional knowledge, geographical indications, and trademarks[12-16].

4.1 PatentBy December 31, 2021, Xinjiang has obtained 3 645 national patents related to cotton (Fig.1), including 1 382 national invention patents, accounting for 37.92%; 2 233 national utility model patents, accounting for 61.26%; 30 national industrial design patents, accounting for 2.17%. The industrial design patents (patterns for design of packaging materials) were few. These national patents were mainly granted in recent ten years, as shown in Fig.1.

Fig.1 Annual changes of the national patents related to Xinjiang cotton in 1985-2021

4.2 New plant varietiesOn May 20, 2005,GossypiumL. was included into theProtectionCatalogofAgriculturalPlantSpeciesofthePeople’sRepublicofChina(the Sixth Batch). So far, 441 varieties ofGossypiumL. have been granted new varieties of agricultural plants. Among them, Xinjiang has 81 new varieties of cotton (Table 1), accounting for 18.37% of the national total, involving a total of 30 new variety rights holders.

Table 1 New varieties of Gossypium L. plants in Xinjiang

4.3 Biological genetic resourcesGossypiumL. belongs toHibisceaeEndl. in Malvaceae family, and is an annual or perennial herb, sometimes arbor-like. This genus has 51 species (47 wild cotton species[17]), of which 4 species and 2 varieties are cultivated in China.

Xinjiang cotton region is rich in biological genetic resources of cotton, including farm varieties (local varieties), breeding varieties, semi-wild lines (geographical lines), wild cotton varieties, and cotton related plants. Among them, there are 4 cultivated cotton varieties, namely traploid sea island cotton (long-staple cotton) and upland cotton (fine-staple cotton), diploid grass cotton (African cotton, rough-staple cotton) and tree cotton (Asian cotton, rough-staple cotton), and there are more than 400 breeding varieties (including 81 new breeding varieties in Table 1), including Junhai 1, Xinhaimian and Xinlu Early series, Xinlu Middle series, Xinhai series, Jinken series, Xincaimian series, and Xinmian series.

Sea island cotton (GossypiumbarbadenseL.), native to South America, was later introduced to the southeastern coastal islands of North America. After liberation, China successfully introduced it from the former Soviet Union to the Turpan Basin and Tarim Basin in Xinjiang. At present, main varieties of sea island cotton are: Junhai 1, Xinhaimian, and Hunxuan 2. Junhai 1 is an early-ripening long-staple cotton variety, mainly produced in agricultural reclamation farms in Aksu Region and Bayingoleng Prefecture; Xinhaimian is directionally selected from the variation types of the "5230F" variety, mainly produced in the Turpan Basin; Hunxuan 2 is a hybrid of several varieties and mainly produced in Kashgar Region.

Upland cotton (GossypiumhirsutumL.), native to the southern plateau of Mexico and the Caribbean in Central America, was introduced to China at the end of the 19thcentury. It is now widely cultivated in various cotton-producing areas in China, and has replaced tree cotton and levant cotton.

Levant cotton (GossypiumherbaceumL.), native to southern Africa, was first cultivated in Southeast Africa or Southwest Africa. It is the earliest cotton species introduced to China and has the longest planting history. However, it began to withdraw from the production field in the 1950s. Now, it has only sporadic planting in Xinjiang, Gansu and other places.

Tree cotton (GossypiumarboreumL.), native to the lower Indus Valley in India, is an early cotton species cultivated and spread by humans. About after BC, it was gradually introduced into Yunnan, Guangxi, Hainan and Guangdong provinces through Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. From the southern frontier of China, it is gradually planted and promoted to the vast northern areas. It is a native cotton that has been cultivated and domesticated in China for hundreds of years. Now it is mainly planted in the cotton area of the Yangtze River Basin and the Yellow River Basin. Now it is mainly planted in the cotton area of the Yangtze River Basin and the Yellow River Basin, and has been eliminated since the upland cotton was imported into China.

4.4 Traditional knowledgeThe origins of levant cotton and tree cotton are Africa and India respectively, and they are introduced into China by sea and land (that is, the north and south lines). "South line cotton" (tree cotton) was introduced to the southeastern coastal areas such as Quanzhou by sea during the Song and Yuan Dynasties. "North line cotton" (levant cotton ) was introduced to Turpan and Hotan in Xinjiang through Central Asia and West Asia during the Western Han Dynasty. However, it stopped in the Xinjiang region for a long time, and it was introduced into the Hexi Corridor of Gansu and the northern Shaanxi area from the Song Dynasty to the Northern and Southern Dynasties. In the early days, cotton was mostly planted in the western frontiers of China, and it was only promoted nationwide in the early Ming Dynasty.

She s small and dark, he said, and nineteen years old and very neat（，） in the way she walks. She has a face, he said, thinking a minute, that has lots of spirit. I mean she can get mad but she never stays mad for long, and her eyebrows3 come to a little point in the middle. She s got a brown fur, but maybe she isn t wearing it.

Levant cotton has a history of more than 2 000 years in Xinjiang. In the 19thcentury, upland cotton was introduced, and in the 1950s, the Central Asian Sea Island cotton varieties 2Yi3, 5476Yi, 10964, and 910Yi were successfully introduced from the former Soviet Union.

Xinjiang is rich in the cotton related traditional knowledge, mainly including traditional cotton planting technology, traditional cotton planting land use system and agricultural landscape (Important Agricultural Heritage Systems), traditional cotton spinning processing techniques, Xinjiang cotton clothing and home textiles (including knitting and textiles, and clothing products with special needs for ethnic minorities) production skills, cotton traditional medicine knowledge,etc.

4.5 Geographical indicationChina’s geographical indication protection system is imperfect, and there are currently three main systems: (i) the geographical indication product protection system of China National Intellectual Property Administration; (ii) the geographical indication trademark (certification trademark or collective trademark) registration system of Trademark Office of China National Intellectual Property Administration; (iii) the agricultural product geographical indication registration system of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Xinjiang cotton and its local products (cotton yarn, cotton cloth, garment, home textiles, cottonseed oil,etc.) failed to make full use of theEu-ChinaAgreementonGeographicalIndications:ALandmarkAgreementto implement overseas geographical indication protection. In terms of domestic geographical indication protection, neither the protection of geographical indication products nor the registration of geographical indication trademarks has been implemented. Only one kind of cotton (color cotton of the 148thRegiment) was registered as a geographical indication of agricultural products in 2011, and the protection scope is the 148th(west battalion) Regiment of the Eighth Division of the Production and Construction Corps in Manas County of Changji Prefecture.

4.6 TrademarkXinjiang cotton and its local products have neither registered collective trademarks nor certification trademarks, but only registered many common trademarks. Among them, the local well-known trademarks in Xinjiang mainly include: the color cotton trademark "Tiancai" of China Colored Cotton (Group) Co., Ltd., the cotton trademark "Fuquan" of Bayingolin Fuquan Xinke Seeds Industry Co.,Ltd., and home textile trademark "Yuna" of Xinjiang Habahe County Yaju Bedding & Clothing Co., Ltd.

Xinjiang famous trademarks mainly include: the cotton trademark "Yinli" of Xinjiang Western Yinli Cotton Industry (Group) Co., Ltd., the cotton trademark "Xiyu" of Xinjiang Xiyu Seeds Co., Ltd., the cotton trademark of the Fifth Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, the cotton trademark "Tarim River" of Xinjiang Tarim River Seeds Industry Co., Ltd., and the cotton trademark "Junggar" of Cotton and Linen Company of the Sixth Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

5 Main problems in the intellectual property protection and high-quality development of cotton industry in Xinjiang

5.1 Weak creativity of creative intellectual propertyThe cotton industry in Xinjiang lacks high-value invention patents. Among the 1 583 national invention patents, few are related to the cotton planting industry, and there is also a lack of deep-processed products. Among the 1 808 utility model patents, there are not many related to the mechanical sowing and picking of cotton. In addition, among the 81 new cotton varieties of agricultural plants, there is a lack of cultivated varieties with strong environmental adaptability, high cotton yield and quality, and stable quality. These indicate that Xinjiang is still weak in the national invention patents, national utility model patents, new varieties of agricultural plants and other creative intellectual property rights in the cotton industry.

5.2 Lagging in geographical indication type intellectual property protection and brand buildingThe natural and human factors of Xinjiang cotton geographical indication are significant, but Xinjiang cotton and its local products (cotton yarn, cotton cloth, garment, home textiles, cottonseed oil,etc.) are not protected by geographical indications overseas. In China, neither the protection of geographical indication products of China National Intellectual Property Administration nor the registration of geographical indication trademarks of Trademark Office of China National Intellectual Property Administration has been implemented. Only one kind of cotton (color cotton of the 148thRegiment) was registered as a geographical indication of agricultural products (Table 1), and the national standardGeographicalIndicationProducts-148thRegimentColorCottonhas not been established for this geographical indication.

Xinjiang Cotton and its local products have neither registered collective trademarks nor certification trademarks, but only registered common trademarks. The local Xinjiang cotton well-known trademarks and famous trademarks are few, only three well-known Chinese trademarks, namely, the color cotton trademark "Tiancai", cotton trademark "Fuquan", home textile trademark "Yuna", and five famous trademarks, namely, "Yinli", "Xiyu", "Beijiang", "Tarim River", and "Junggar".

These indicate that the geographical indications, certification marks, collective marks, Chinese well-known trademarks, Xinjiang famous trademarks, national design patents and other intellectual property rights of Xinjiang cotton and its local products are poorly protected, lack of regional public brands, and lag behind in brand building and management.

5.3 Intellectual property rule system in specific fields of Xinjiang cotton to be improvedThe cotton industry chain of Xinjiang includes cotton planting, cotton stalk utilization, cotton seed deep processing, cotton deep processing (spinning, weaving, dyeing), garment and home textile (including knitting and textiles, and clothing products with special needs for ethnic minorities) manufacturing, and Xinjiang cotton product sales. In these specific fields, the intellectual property rules system needs to be improved. In particular, it is necessary to protect the important agricultural cultural heritage of Xinjiang cotton, inherit the cultural heritage of textiles and clothing products with special needs for ethnic minorities, provide support for the innovation of cotton planting mechanization, the cultivation of new cotton varieties, and the development of new cotton products in Xinjiang, and maintain the commercial secrets of Xinjiang cotton industry and regional public brands.

5.4 Lack of deep-processed products (weaving, garment, home textiles,etc.)The deep processing of Xinjiang cotton industry is not sufficient, and the main product is cotton, the primary agricultural product. The products of local cotton spinning enterprises are mainly cotton yarn, and there is a lack of deep-processed products such as weaving, garment, and home textiles, especially high-end cotton products.

5.5 Weak awareness for the sense of community for the Chinese nation in the cotton field of XinjiangThe flow of inland migrant workers picking cotton, the transfer of the inland cotton textile and garment industry, and the circulation of knitted textiles and clothing products with special needs for ethnic minorities reflect that the cotton industry of Xinjiang is an important industry for exchanges and integration of various ethnic groups.

According to theMeasuresfortheNamingofDemonstrationUnitsinNationalEthnicUnityandProgressDemonstrationAreas, excluding those exceeding the expiration date, Xinjiang Autonomous Region currently has 47 demonstration areas for national unity and progress and 36 demonstration units, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps currently has 16 demonstration areas for national unity and progress and 10 demonstration units.

These demonstration areas involve major cotton production counties (cities, divisions) in Xinjiang, protected zones for production of major high quality agricultural product cotton, and textile industrial cities. However, in the establishment of the demonstration zone, Xinjiang cotton production and industrial development have not received due attention. These demonstration units have neither involved the national key leading enterprises of agricultural industrialization in Xinjiang cotton field, the national high-tech enterprises, the national designated production enterprises of knitting textiles and clothing products with special needs for ethnic minorities, nor the national farmers’ professional cooperatives, Xinjiang Cotton Industry Association and other important social organizations.

5.6 Emergency management for Xinjiang cotton incident to be improvedIt has been more than one year since some international brands and international organizations have fabricated the Xinjiang cotton incident, which has brought about a bad impact on the Xinjiang cotton industry. The emergency management ability and emergency plan for such incident need to be improved, and the ability of Xinjiang cotton industry to prevent risks needs to be comprehensively improved.

6 Strategies for the intellectual property protection and high-quality development of cotton industry in Xinjiang

6.1 Improving the creative level of creative intellectual property rights and leading the high-quality development of Xinjiang cotton industry with scientific and technological innovationIn the fields of cotton breeding, cotton field land restoration, cotton mechanical sowing and picking, cotton seed and cotton stalk utilization, and high-end cotton product manufacturing, it is recommended to create high-value national invention patents and national utility model patents. Besides, it is recommended to collect and innovate germplasm resources and mine excellent genes, carry out molecular breeding combined with traditional breeding, and cultivate new cotton varieties with high yield, high quality, early ripening and more suitable for mechanized planting. In addition, it is recommended to improve the creation level of creative intellectual property rights such as invention patents, utility model patents, and new plant varieties, implement the Xinjiang cotton innovation-driven strategy, and lead the high-quality development of the Xinjiang cotton industry with technological innovation.

6.2 Protecting cotton biological germplasm resources and passing on the traditional knowledge related to Xinjiang cottonIt is recommended to collect local cotton germplasm resources, introduce foreign and domestic fine varieties and germplasm resources, establish a national cotton germplasm nursery with long-staple cotton as characteristic, and protect cotton biological germplasm resources. In addition, it is necessary to collect and sort out the traditional knowledge of cotton planting in Xinjiang, the important agricultural cultural heritage of cotton, the intangible cultural heritage of the local knitting textiles and clothing products with special needs for ethnic minorities, related material cultural heritage (cotton seeds, cotton cloth and other cultural relics), traditional knowledge of cotton medicine, pass on the traditional knowledge related to Xinjiang cotton, and promote the creative transformation and innovative development of Xinjiang cotton culture.

6.3 Improving the protection of geographical indications and building a public brand of Xinjiang cotton in an all-round wayIt is recommended to survey the natural and human factors of geographical indications, implement the protection of geographical indication products of Xinjiang cotton and its products, register its geographical indication trademarks, certification marks, and collective trademarks, register the agricultural geographical indications of cotton and cottonseed oil, and formulate national standards for each geographical indication product. In addition, it is recommended to integrate brands with geographical indications, combine relevant quality engineering and brand cultivation, cultivate more Xinjiang famous trademarks and Chinese well-known trademarks, and build Xinjiang cotton regional public brand in an all-round way.

6.4 Building an intellectual property rule system in the entire cotton industry chain in Xinjiang and developing the knowledge economyXinjiang Region should improve the creation, application, protection, management and service level of intellectual property rights in Xinjiang cotton industry, build an intellectual property rule system in this field, protect the innovation chain, and realize the two-way integrated development of the industrial chain and the innovation chain, excavate the cultural connotation of products, promote the knowledge-based development of the industry, and develop the knowledge economy.

6.5 Implementing the strategy of revitalizing cotton by quality and building a protected zone for production of major high quality agricultural product cottonIt is recommended to implement the strategy of revitalizing cotton by quality, enhance the environmental protection and governance of protected zones for production of major high quality agricultural product cotton, strengthen scientific and technological innovation in the cotton seed industry, build a high-quality seed and seedling breeding base, promote the mechanization and standardization of cotton planting in Xinjiang, and create a new model of integrated development of the entire industry chain, cultivate and enhance the regional brand of Xinjiang cotton, use modern information technology to establish a dynamic monitoring and supervision system, and build a protected zone for production of major high quality agricultural product cotton.

6.6 Establishing a demonstration zone to undertake the transfer of the domestic cotton textile and garment industry, and promoting the leap-forward development of the cotton industry in XinjiangIt is recommended to develop deep-processing products such as weaving, clothing, and home textiles, research and develop high-end cotton spinning products, improve Xinjiang’s cotton deep-processing capacity and strengthen the training of local textile technical workers, introduce senior cotton spinning talents and advanced equipment, introduce well-known enterprises and famous brands, establish demonstration areas to undertake the transfer of the domestic cotton textile and garment industry, promote the leap-forward development of the cotton industry in Xinjiang, and realize the transformation and development of Xinjiang’s advantageous resources.

6.7 Creating demonstration areas (demonstration units) for national unity and progress in Xinjiang cotton field, and consolidating the sense of community for the Chinese nation

Xinjiang Region should include the high-quality development of Xinjiang cotton industry in the creation of the existing national national unity and progress demonstration areas (demonstration units). For key cotton production counties (county-level cities, districts, and divisions), protected zone for production of major high quality agricultural product cotton, and domestic cotton textile and garment industry transfer demonstration areas, it is necessary to create a national unity and progress demonstration area. For the leading enterprises in the cotton field in Xinjiang (the national key leading enterprises in agricultural industrialization, the national high-tech enterprises, the national designated production enterprises for knitting textiles and clothing products with special needs for ethnic minorities,etc.) and important social organizations (national farmers’ professional cooperatives, Xinjiang Cotton Industry Association,etc.), it is recommended to create a national demonstration unit for national unity and progress, so as to promote the exchanges and integration of various ethnic groups in the cotton industry in Xinjiang and promote the high-quality development of the cotton industry in Xinjiang with forging the sense of community for the Chinese nation as the main line in the new era.

6.8 Undertaking the education on the sense of community for the Chinese nation in response to the Xinjiang cotton incident, and cultivating the self-defense awareness in the textile trade warIt is necessary to collect and sort out Xinjiang cotton culture from the aspects of Chinese excellent traditional culture, revolutionary culture and advanced socialist culture,etc., to jointly build the spiritual home of Xinjiang cotton industry and set up a national unity and progress education base. Besides, it is recommended to combine the Xinjiang cotton incident, carry out education on the sense of community for the Chinese nation and socialist core values, cultivate the public self-defense awareness in the textile trade war, and guide the public to consciously resist international brands and international institutions that smear Xinjiang cotton.

6.9 Improving the ability to prevent and mitigate risks, and develop the Belt and Road blue market for Xinjiang cotton and its productsIt is necessary to improve the emergency management ability and emergency plan for Xinjiang cotton incident, and improve the ability of Xinjiang cotton industry to prevent and mitigate risks. Besides, it is recommended to gradually reduce the import of long-staple cotton, encourage domestic cotton spinning enterprises to use Xinjiang cotton, strengthen Xinjiang cotton to manufacture knitted textiles and clothing products with special needs for ethnic minorities, and expand the domestic demand of Xinjiang cotton. Relying on the advantages of cotton quality and Xinjiang’s geographical location, and taking advantage of the opportunities of the Belt and Road Initiative, it is recommended to develop the Silk Road Economic Belt blue market of Xinjiang cotton and its products, and develop the export-oriented economy of Xinjiang cotton.