A visit from the heads of one of China's leading woollen textile enterprises on Monday has cemented Boorowa's international reputation in wool innovation.
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Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) chairman Wal Merriman hosted the Nanshan Group's board chairman Song Jianmin and general manager Tony Wu as a part of the group's growing partnership with the region.
"This trip is to further the partnership between Nanshan and Australian Wool Innovation," Mr Merriman said.
"Mr Song is interested in how our operation is run and how the animals are treated. He just wants to see what life is like on a farm."
AWI and the Nanshan Group worked closely together to establish the International Wool Education Centre (I-WEC), which was officially opened in October last year.
The I-WEC is attached to Nanshan Yantai University, located in the township of Nanshan in the Shandong province, China.
Already, 53 tertiary students have completed I-WEC's first course, run by AWI's Post-Farm Environmental Issues Manager Dr Allan De Boos, on woven fabric finishing.
The I-WEC complements the Wool Development Centre (WDC) which was also set up at Nanshan twelve months ago with co-funding from AWI.
Although the WDC at Nanshan is primarily focused on research and development, it will play a dual role enabling students from the new I-WEC to gain first-hand practical knowledge by operating for themselves the sample machines housed within the WDC.
Mr Merriman described the partnership between the AWI and Nanshan as an important milestone in helping ensure the future of both wool manufacturing in China and the woolgrowing industry in Australia.
"It's a terrific partnership, you've got the students working in a room right next to where the wool is being processed. If they get a new idea they can go next door and trial it. It's a quick way of getting product development into the marketplace," Mr Merriman said.
The Nanshan Group's fabric and garment subsidiary is listed as one of the top 500 corporations in China and purchases more wool each year than the country of Italy does does.
With more than 10, 000 employees, the garment division consist of seven professional mills, and 14 garment production lines with a total capacity of five million sets.
Dr Michelle Humphries was on hand to demonstrate to the men how the artificial insemination process works.
Mr Merriman said they use the - albeit more expensive - technique to spread the genetics over a lot more sheep.
"One service can do 80 ewes; in the paddock they would do one," he said.
Nanshan group executives have previously toured farms throughout regional NSW to gain a greater understanding of the nuances of the Australian wool industry.
