ProducefliesofftheshelvesasChinesefarmersdiscoverthebenefitsofonlinesalesByGeLijun
Rurale-commercewillnotonlypromotethesaleofagriculturalproductsbutalsothetransformationfrom‘basingsalesonproduction’to‘basingproductiononsales’prospects.
QuDongyu,ChineseViceAgricultureMinister
Thisistheseasonforbrisksaleinwatermelonsandvendorssellingthegreenfruitwithjuicyredfleshfromthebackofsmallvansatroadintersectionsorpavementsareacommonsight.Oflate,anotherwayofreachingbuyersiscatchingon-onlinesales.
InBeijing’sDaxingDistrict,technologyisempoweringfarmerstoselltheirproduceonline,amethodthatismoreconvenient,faster,andwithbetteroutreach.
Accordingtosomefarmers,thankstotheInternet,allthewatermelonstheygrewthissummerhavebeenbookedbybuyersevenbeforethefruitsripened.”Previously,wewouldhavetowaitfortheripeningandthenforbuyerstocomeandtaketheirpick.ButsellingwatermelonsthroughtheInternetismuchmoreconvenient,”WangZhili,a50-year-oldfarmerwhobegantosellfruitsonlinesincelastyear,toldChinAfrica.
TheonlinesaleoffruitsandvegetablesiscatchingoninDaxingduetoseveralfactors.Apartofitsindustrialarea,theBeijingCentralE-CommerceDistrict,isbeingpromotedasane-commercehub,especiallyafterPremierLiKeqiangintroducedtheconceptofInternetpluslastyear-theuseoftheWebintraditionalindustriesforbettergrowth.
Over1,000e-commercecompaniesareoperatinginthehub.ThishasresultedintheestablishmentofentireindustrychainservicesinDaxing.
Lastyear,theBeijingE-CommerceAssociationandBeijingInternationalFairforTradeinServicesorganizedthe2015China-BeijingE-CommerceConference,sponsoredbytheBeijingMunicipalCommissionofCommerceandsupportedbytheMinistryofCommerceandthePeople’sGovernmentofBeijing.Oneaimoftheconferencewastobringfarmersincontactwithenterprisesandboostaproductionandmarketingmodelcombininganagriculturalbase,anonlineplatformtomarketproducts,andconsumers.
Attheendoftheconference,itwasannouncedthattheDaxinge-commercehubwouldaimonlineretailsaleworth200billionyuan($30.55billion)inthe13thFiveYearPlanperiod(2016-20).Infiveyears,itwouldincubateover1,000innovativee-commercecompaniesandgrow10globale-commerceenterpriseswithanexportvalueof50billionyuan($7.64billion).
Loquatgoesonline
ItisnotjustinBeijingwherefarmersarelearningtodothingswithaclickoftheirmouse.Renshou,acountyinSichuanProvinceinsouthwestChina,isknownasthelandofloquats.
InMay2014,thecountyformedane-commerceassociationtointroduceonlinesellingandpushupsales.Subsequently,Ganchangxiaozhan(www.scgcxz),thecounty’sowne-commerceplatform,wascreatedtosellitsagriculturalproducts.
In2015,thewebsitelaunchedanonlineLoquatsFestival,attractingbuyersindroves.Ontheopeningdayitself,morethan5,000kgofloquatwassold,generatingover200,000yuan($30,769).
WangWeijin,ViceSecretaryofRenshouCountyCommitteeoftheCommunistPartyofChina,toldPeople’sDailythatRenshouhasover400administrativevillages,eachwithitsowndistinctiveproducts,likeloquats,pearsandevenfish.Thegovernmentispromotingtheselocalproductsonline.IthasintegratedfarmingstoresandispromotingcooperationbetweenGanchangxiaozhanandChinaPostandlogisticsgiantJDtoreducelogisticcosts.Ithasalsoestablishedatrainingcoursetoteachfarmershowtousewebsitesforonlinemarketing.
However,therearestillsomebottlenecksinpromotingruralagriculturale-commerce.Statisticsshowthatnearly38,000administrativevillagesinChinastilldon’thaveaccesstobroadbandInternet.Almost70percentofChinesefarmershavenoaccessatalltotheInternet.
Atthe“InternetplusAgriculture”conferenceheldbytheMinistryofAgricultureinApril,QuDongyu,ViceAgricultureMinister,saidtherearetwowaystosolvetheproblems.First,infrastructurehastobecreatedandimproved.Thisincludescommunication,roadsandlogistics.Second,thegapbetweenfarmersandmoderntechnologyhastobebridgedbyprovidingthemwithtraining.
Giantsinvillages
Somee-commerceenterpriseshavealreadyforayedintoruralmarkets.JinJianhang,PresidentoftheAlibabaGroup,ane-commercegiantinChina,announcedatane-commerceconferenceinFujianProvinceonMarch28thathisgroupisconstructinganewruralcommercialinfrastructurenetwork.
Thegrouplaunchedthe“10,000CountiesandVillages”projectinOctober2014,investing10billionyuan($1.6billion)tobuildarurale-commerceservicesystemthatwillcoverover1,000countiesand100,000villagesinthreetofiveyears.Thegroupisalsobuildinge-commerceoperationcentersincountiestohandlelogistics,trainingandinspectionagencies.Therewillbesmallercentersinthevillagestomainlylookafterlocalproductpurchasesandhelpfarmersopenonlinestores.
LiuXianghaolivesinShandongProvinceineastChina.Hesellsdryfish,shrimpsandjellyfishthroughthelocalvillagecenter.Forthathehastogivedetailsofhisproducts-quantity,priceandproductdescription.Thevillagecenterthensendsstafftohishousetophotographtheitemsandagreeontheirprice.ThephotographsaresoonpostedonawebsiteforfarmersandLiuwaitsfororders.Whentheorderscome,theypackthestuffanddeliverthepackagetobuyers.
AccordingtoAlibaba’sstatistics,bytheendofMarch,therewere14,000suchvillagecentersinChinaforprovidinge-saleservices.
Creatingatransformation
Thoughit’sagoodstart,rurale-commerceisstillinitsinfancy.AccordingtothestatisticsreleasedbytheMinistryofAgriculturein2015,onlineagriculturaltransactionsaccountforlessthan5percentofoverallagriculturalsales.
However,thepotentialisthereandthegovernmentistryingtotapthat.OnMay12,theMinistryofAgricultureinassociationwithsevendepartmentspublishedtheThree-YearActionandImplementationPlanofInternetPlusModernAgriculture,whichemphasizesrurale-commercepromotion.Theplansaysmorenetworks,logisticsandinfrastructurewillbeputinplace.
“Rurale-commercewillnotonlypromotethesaleofagriculturalproductsbutalsothetransformationfrom‘basingsalesonproduction’to‘basingproductiononsales’prospects,”ViceAgricultureMinisterQusaid.“Duringthe13thFive-YearPlanperiod,agriculturale-commercewillcontinuetomaintainhigh-speeddevelopment.”CA