E-commerce poverty reduction highlighted in Longnan

About 240 government officials, experts, and e-commerce managers and shop owners gathered Sunday in Longnan to discuss the path to help farmers overcome poverty through e-commerce.

At the two-day on-site meeting, attendees explored better ways to help local farmers increase their income by selling quality agricultural products over online platforms, and looked at how to emulate this e-commerce model across a greater number of poverty-stricken areas.

Qu Tianjun, a high-ranking official from LGOP, believes it is now time to spread this experience to more areas with similar economic and social conditions but also believes that more needs to be done to create new brands and star-rated shops as well as to improve agricultural-product standardization and value.

“Given its location in a mountainous area, Cheng County has various agricultural resources but has obvious weaknesses with transportation, talent, and logistics. The miracle that’s happened here can be attributed to the huge input injected into local infrastructure, including roads, Internet, and electricity. But the most important factor here has been the great importance that the local government has attached to these initiatives, along with creative use of new media and positive relationships that have been built with e-commerce firms,” said Qu.