Rural online shopping for festival thrives

Zhang Jianbin surprised his parents, who live in rural northwest China, when he presented them with abalone caught half way around the world.

The abalone was part of a fresh New Zealand seafood package, which cost 621 yuan (94.4 U.S. dollars), that Zhang had ordered online. Three days after the processing of online transaction, the package was at the rural online shopping station in Wujiazhuang Village in Luochuan County, Shaanxi Province, ready for him to collect.

"As we live so far from the sea, we have never eaten anything as exotic as this before, so I jumped at the chance to treat my parents to seafood as a lunar new year gift," said Zhang, who is an English teacher.

As online retailers expand their business to rural areas, families in rural China, like Zhang's, are spoilt for choice when buying items for the coming big holiday.

Many e-commerce platforms, such as Alibaba and JD, have set up service stations in rural areas that have Internet-linked computers and sample products on display. Villagers can order at the stations and return a few days later to collect their packages.

Data showed that Alibaba had 12,000 rural stations involved in the festival online purchase. Rural buyers accounted for 15 percent of all orders via Alibaba.

Rural consumption surged by 117 percent year on year, and the average value of each order was 262 yuan, with items ranging from apricots to automobiles.

It is traditional to have nice food and new clothes for the lunar new year, as well as gifts for families.

Apart from orders made by local villagers, station manager Wang Mingqiang in Longxi Village, Zhejiang Province, said he has processed deliveries that were ordered thousands of miles away.

"One buyer was away working in Guangdong Province, and placed orders online and had them delivered home," Wang said, adding that many migrant workers were choosing to shop online.

Another station manager, Wu Yanfeng, said one of her customers spent more than 20,000 yuan online at her station in Wuzhai Village on a television, a refrigerator, a washing machine and other items for her daughter whose wedding comes after the lunar new year.

"Ordering online is much easier than travelling to the county seat to go shopping," Wu said.

Villagers can also sell their own products. Apples, eggs and honey were among the top items bought by urban buyers during the purchase festival.

Wang Xiaobing, an official on market and economic information with the Ministry of Agriculture, said e-commerce will help develop China's rural areas and increase farmers' income.

To boost rural e-commerce, China plans to have full broadband coverage in villages and expedite construction of logistics infrastructure, the central government said.

Wei Yan'an, a rural e-commerce expert in Shaanxi, said, "Easier access to high-quality overseas products might push domestic products and services to upgrade." Endi