How does Internet Plus give rise to new business forms in China's agriculture and rural economy?
What kind of catalytic effect will "Internet Plus" bring to the economic and social life of agriculture and rural areas? At the 2015 Agricultural Informatization Summit Forum held in Fuzhou from November 7 to 8, experts pointed out that "Internet Plus" rural e-commerce will bring leapfrog development to the rural economy, its combination with the agricultural product quality traceability system will help ensure agricultural product quality and safety, and its combination with rural finance will improve the existing rural financial service system, giving rise to a series of new business forms in the agriculture and rural economy.
"Internet Plus" Agricultural E-commerce
As China's rural e-commerce develops rapidly, the number of agricultural product e-commerce platforms nationwide has exceeded 3,000, and in 2014 the online retail transaction value of agricultural products surpassed 100 billion yuan. E-commerce platforms for agricultural inputs such as seeds, fertilizers and pesticides have emerged rapidly, and e-commerce for leisure sightseeing agriculture and homestays has risen abruptly. E-commerce platforms such as JD.com, Alibaba and Suning have successively launched e-commerce pilot programs for bringing fresh agricultural products into communities and trustworthy agricultural inputs into fields.
Wang Xiaobing, deputy director of the Market and Economic Information Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, said that the development of agricultural e-commerce has innovated the circulation methods of agricultural products, forced the standardization of agricultural production, and reshaped the form of the agricultural industry. A development pattern is taking shape in which cross-regional e-commerce platforms and local e-commerce platforms develop together, the eastern, central and western regions all burst with vitality, and agricultural products go to the cities while industrial products go to the countryside in two-way interaction.
It is understood that the Ministry of Agriculture will actively promote the construction of agricultural e-commerce demonstration projects, and create conditions for the rapid development of agricultural e-commerce through means such as carrying out training for agricultural business entities, platform matching, establishing information guidance mechanisms, advancing pilot demonstrations, and strengthening the supporting environment.
Experts said that the rapid development of agricultural e-commerce is profoundly changing the traditional circulation methods of agricultural products, becoming a new driving force for accelerating the transformation of agricultural development methods, improving the market mechanism for agricultural products, and promoting the development of agricultural and rural informatization. Its role in developing modern agriculture, prospering the rural economy, and improving the lives of urban and rural residents is becoming increasingly prominent, and it will lay a solid foundation for advancing the agricultural informatization process as a whole.
"Internet Plus" Agricultural Product Safety
In July this year, the State Council issued the "Guiding Opinions on Actively Promoting the 'Internet Plus' Action", proposing to cultivate diversified agricultural internet management and service models and improve the quality and safety traceability system for agricultural and sideline products. It pointed out that the entire process of agricultural and sideline products "from farm to table" must be traceable.
It is understood that the Ministry of Agriculture is leveraging "Internet Plus" and making full use of modern information technologies such as big data and the Internet of Things to accelerate the construction of an agricultural product quality and safety system, and is stepping up the construction of the national agricultural product quality and safety traceability management information platform to safeguard "safety on the tip of the tongue".
During the forum, initiated by Chinasoft International and jointly with multiple enterprises in the field of agricultural product quality and safety, the "Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Internet of Things Innovation and Application Promotion Collaboration Platform" was established. This platform will advance the full-process traceability of agricultural products "from farm to table" and build a promotion service platform for agricultural products included in the trust system.
"Internet Plus" Rural Finance
With the proposal of "Internet Plus", China's rural internet finance has entered a new stage of development, and rural finance has become a "blue ocean" for competition among various financial service institutions.
At this forum, financial regulatory officials and representatives of financial institutions said that the rapid development of rural internet finance will open a new door for returning migrant workers to participate in entrepreneurship and innovation, and will play a unique function and role in meeting the investment and financing needs of small and micro enterprises and low- and middle-income rural groups, improving the quality and efficiency of financial services, guiding private finance toward standardization, strengthening microfinance, and enhancing the inclusiveness of rural finance.
Experts suggested that through strong cooperation between governments at all levels and financial institutions, it is necessary to vigorously develop inclusive finance and improve the rural financial system, comprehensively deepen rural financial reform and innovation, fully leverage the combined force of policy-based finance, commercial finance and cooperative finance, establish and improve a multi-level, diversified and appropriately competitive rural financial service system, and achieve an overall improvement in the availability of financing for "agriculture, rural areas and farmers".
It is understood that the Information Center of the Ministry of Agriculture is cooperating with insurance institutions to broaden the channels of agricultural insurance services, connect village-level information service stations with insurance service stations through a "two stations in one" approach, realize a "big collaboration" model among the government, insurance, banks, enterprises and farms, and explore a new model for the development of "Internet Plus" insurance for "agriculture, rural areas and farmers".