In March 2024, China's Ministry of Commerce and eight other departments issued the Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of Rural E-commerce. The document outlines a five-year plan to cultivate approximately 100 rural e-commerce "leading counties", develop around 1,000 county-level digital circulation leading enterprises, establish about 1,000 county-level live-streaming e-commerce bases, and nurture roughly 10,000 rural e-commerce leaders.
Promoting high-quality development of rural e-commerce can facilitate the transformation from traditional to modern agriculture. As a key component of rural e-commerce, agricultural product e-commerce via digital platforms has effectively shortened the transaction chain of agricultural products and expanded their trading scope. More importantly, it has established a comprehensive, real-time supply-demand matching model, thereby addressing fundamental questions about what to produce, how much to produce, and for whom. Furthermore, rural e-commerce imposes higher quality standards on agricultural products, compelling farmers to adopt greener, ecological, and high-quality farming and breeding practices, thus steering agricultural production towards professional and standardized development paths.
The high-quality development of rural e-commerce has driven the shift from a single industry to diversified industries at the county level. The commercialization of agricultural products requires deep processing of primary agricultural products, as well as support from multiple industrial systems such as storage, packaging, logistics, and operations. Consequently, rural e-commerce has spurred the robust development of the secondary and tertiary sectors in counties, optimising the economic structure at the county level.
According to data from China's Ministry of Commerce, China has so far supported the establishment of 1,489 county-level e-commerce public service centers, nearly 3,000 logistics distribution centers, and more than 158,000 village-level e-commerce service stations. This has promoted the "going to the countryside" of industrial products and the "coming to the city" of agricultural products. In 2023, China's rural online retail sales reached 2.5 trillion yuan, with online sales of agricultural products amounting to 587.03 billion yuan.
As stated by a spokesperson from the Ministry of Commerce's Department of Circulation, the newly issued Opinions have the following highlights:
1. Focus on digital transformation: align with the development trend of the digital economy, deeply implement the digital countryside development action, drive the transformation and upgrading of rural commercial circulation enterprises with technology and application innovation, and promote the comprehensive and full-chain integration of e-commerce with primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in rural areas.
2. Addressing weaknesses: Start from the practical issues facing rural e-commerce, such as inadequate infrastructure, lagging delivery systems, and a shortage of e-commerce talent. They propose specific measures such as establishing county-level live-streaming e-commerce bases, expanding rural digital convenience services, enhancing the modernisation of rural logistics facilities, and cultivating rural e-commerce leaders, aiming to address deficiencies and lay a solid foundation for high-quality rural e-commerce development.
3. Emphasising local conditions: guide regions to leverage their comparative advantages based on differences in the east, middle, and west, and factors such as population and location. They encourage regions to develop e-commerce services that are refined, professional, and intensive, incorporating elements of excellent traditional culture and local customs to nurture distinctive rural e-commerce brands, promote special products and services, and create a rural e-commerce development atmosphere with distinct themes and highlights.
Related link: https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202403/content_6939283.htm
https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202403/content_6939283.htm
