E-commerce development drives farmers to increase income and become prosperous
“The Red Army fears not the trials of the Long March, a thousand mountains and ten thousand rivers they take as nothing. The Five Ridges wind and coil with tiny waves, the Wumeng range walks mud balls……” Dupang Ridge is one of the “Five Ridges,” and Guanyang County, Guilin City, Guangxi, nestles on one side of the Dupang Ridge mountain range.
In November 1934, the Red Army passed through Guanyang during the Long March. Here, Red Army commanders met the special envoy sent by Feng Fushan, leader of the Yao people's uprising in northern Guangxi. Subsequently, a document titled “Directive on the Principles of Work Among the Yao and Miao Peoples” was drafted and formulated in Guanyang and issued to all Red Army corps.
Eighty-two years later, all ethnic groups in Guanyang are united and living good lives on the new Long March. During the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” period, the disposable income of urban residents and the per capita net income of farmers in Guanyang County rose from 16,101 yuan and 4,162 yuan in 2010 to 24,692 yuan and 6,849 yuan in 2015, respectively. Over 5 years, the rural poor population in Guanyang decreased by more than 45,000, and the per capita net income of people lifted out of poverty grew by an average of 16.4% annually.
“Oranges in the south, plums in the north, snow pears in the center” is Guanyang County's industrial layout. Including navel oranges, the “Chinese Famous Fruit” Guanyang black plum and the “geographical indication product” Guanyang snow pear have both obtained pollution-free origin and product certification. The county has 234,000 mu of high-quality fruit cultivation, with an annual output of 178,600 tons, and the fruit industry has injected new vitality into farmers' prosperity.
In the 3,500-mu Guanyang Modern Characteristic Agriculture (Snow Pear and Black Plum) Core Demonstration Zone, 29-year-old Dai Kezeng is sorting through a thick stack of shipping orders for snow pears and black plums on the table. Dai Kezeng told reporters that he is mainly responsible for receiving and shipping orders on e-commerce platforms, with orders coming from all over the country and sales made through Taobao, WeChat, and JD.com.
Dai Kezeng's family grows 50 mu of fruit, half snow pears and half black plums. Black plum output is 4,500—5,000 jin per mu, and snow pear output is 7,000 jin per mu. “The price at which fruit merchants come to the door to buy snow pears is 2.5—3 yuan per jin, but through online sales on e-commerce platforms, it can sell for 10 yuan per jin. After deducting shipping and labor, the profit per jin can reach 5—6 yuan. In this way, by selling through e-commerce platforms, income can increase by two to three yuan per jin.” Dai Kezeng has tasted the sweetness of selling agricultural products online.
Dai Kezeng is not the only one who has tasted the sweetness. Zhou Wanquan returned to his hometown last July to develop his business and founded Guilin Guanyang County Xingnong E-commerce Co., Ltd. Over the course of a year, the company's transaction volume on e-commerce platforms reached more than 40 million yuan. Opening Zhou Wanquan's company transaction records, it says: 2,000 tons of taro, 130,000 jin of ginger…… His e-commerce company has already established e-commerce platform service stations in 9 townships across the county to connect with farmers, serving more than 80 outlets.
Similar to Zhou Wanquan, 3 years ago Deng Guijiao led the villagers of Guanyinge Township to establish Guanyang County Minsheng Ecological Agriculture Technology Co., Ltd., using e-commerce platforms to build their own “Internet plus” channel, selling cloud ear mushrooms far and wide to the mainland and the Hong Kong and Macao regions of China, and successfully entering ASEAN and EU markets, with annual gross income of more than 3 million yuan. She said: “QQ, WeChat, Weibo, and Taobao stores are the four magic tools essential to my daily work.”
Guanyang, with its rich resources of specialty agricultural products, has connected to the internet highway, and relying on online and offline transactions through e-commerce platforms, the sales of agricultural products have also entered the fast lane.
Last July, the Ministry of Commerce announced the second batch of national comprehensive demonstration counties for e-commerce entering rural areas, and Guanyang County was among them. Taking this as an opportunity, Guanyang County focused on building 25 key agricultural product online sales brands crucial to the county's modern agricultural development and farmers' income growth. From June to July this year, in conjunction with Guangxi's “Party Flag Leads the Way, E-commerce Poverty Alleviation, July 1 Red Shopping Season” activity, Guanyang County sold more than 100 kinds of agricultural products, with actual sales of 42 million yuan, assisting more than 1,200 poor people.
E-commerce is thriving, farmers have tasted the sweetness, and they have joined the “Internet plus” army one after another. “Of the county's 138 administrative villages, more than 110 online stores have been built.” said Jiang Bijuan, director of the county agriculture bureau. This September, Guanyang County reached an agreement with Alibaba Group, and the rural Taobao project is about to land in Guanyang.
At present, Guanyang County has established an e-commerce federation, and e-commerce sites at the county, township, and village levels have been fully rolled out. A total of 150 e-commerce sites have been established, including 9 township service sites and 141 village-level service stations. A 3,000-square-meter county warehousing and logistics center has been completed and put into operation. Last year, the total income from e-commerce sales of products in Guanyang County was 150 million yuan, promoting employment for more than 10,000 people in rural areas and serving farmers 22,000 person-times.
“The Red Army spirit pointed out the bright road of thought, reform and opening up built a broad road, and now we are about to step onto the road of rapid development through e-commerce.” said Lu Guidi, secretary of the county party committee.