This Day, That Year

Item from Jan 26, 1984, in China Daily: Farmers throng to buy dress material in time for Spring Festival at a free market in Lankao county, Henan province.

The county, once impoverished, has doubled the value of its industrial and agricultural production in recent years. …

Thanks to the rapid growth of China’s digital economy, people who live in rural areas can now buy fashionable clothes, shoes and high-end electronic devices online, just like urbanites.

There is no need to stand in long lines for panic holiday purchases anymore. Shopping online makes festival preparations a breeze.

The digital divide between urban and rural areas has been narrowing steadily.

Taobao, China’s biggest online shopping platform, has set up several centers nationwide in recent years to help rural residents familiarize with the digital era.

In addition to teaching people how to shop online, professionals also provide trainings to those without computer skills.

By the end of 2015, 780 villages had met the entry conditions for selling products on Taobao.

A growing number of farmers are already selling their produce and promoting rural tours via e-commerce platforms, while an increasing number of migrant workers and college graduates are returning to their hometowns to start their own businesses.

Fixed broadband networks now cover all of China’s townships and 95 percent of administrative villages, and 100-megabyte optical fiber networks cover both urban and rural areas.