The fifth Shaanxi Province Women's Handicraft Skills Competition kicked off on Oct 22 in Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province.

Sponsored by the Shaanxi Provincial Women's Federation, the competition aims to encourage urban and rural women to improve their handicraft skills in order to increase family income by working at home.

During the two-day competition, a number of handicraft works will be displayed for trade and cooperation. A total of 458 women from all over the province will take part in the competition to show their skills.

Since 2009, Shaanxi province has made great efforts to support the women's handicraft industry, investing some 6 million yuan ($984,400) to train urban and rural women and establish a handicraft cooperative society. At present, some 150,000 women receive income from the handicraft industry. The annual income per person from the handicraft industry has reached 8,000 yuan.