Agricultural specialties emerge via e-commerce

A men hosts a livestreaming show to sell agricultural products from rural Guizhou province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

In recent years, rural e-commerce in China has remarkably promoted agricultural production and sales, upgrading agricultural industries and improving rural employment. Data revealed that in the first three quarters of this year, the national rural online retail sales reached 1.7 trillion yuan, marking a 12.2% growth.

Taking Douyin e-commerce as an example, its prominent "Mountain Products Make Headlines" program attracted a lot of attention to agricultural products by delivering engaging rural short videos and live streamings.

Meanwhile, through targeted assistance and training, the program helped merchants run businesses sustainably and develop regional specialty industries.

"We Fujianese have the habit of making soup, but many netizens are confused about how to cook mushrooms. Therefore, we launched soup packages and filmed short videos to present the soup-making process. And this soup package has now become a star product in my store," said Tian Xiaoyu, an e-commerce host.

As the sales of specialty agricultural products continue to rise, e-commerce platforms also provide updated support plans.

This year, edible mushrooms are one of the key support industries. Douyin e-commerce encouraged farmers to promote local agricultural goods on comprehensive e-commerce platforms to create distinct cultural brands and develop regional specialist industries through methods like traffic distribution and marketing campaigns.

Over the past year, the sales of Guangdong's lychee, Hunan's tea oil, and Fujian's mushroom soup packages have surged via the "Mountain Products Make Headlines" program, with year-on-year growth rates reaching 576%, 520%, and 237%, respectively.

Besides, representative local specialty agricultural products from Ningxia, Hainan, Anhui, and Guizhou, such as goji berries, coconut chicken, melon seed tea, and dried tofu. Now they have gained larger market shares. It is reported that in 2023, the "Mountain Products Make Headlines" program had assisted 49 rural industries.

E-commerce is crucial in upgrading the agricultural industry chain. Experts suggest that in the future, agricultural e-commerce will include all types of products to meet customers' diverse needs.

Source: People's Daily; trans-editing by Guo Yao