Taobao Village Live sows a new future in rural areas

JINAN — As a message alert buzzes on his computer, Zhang Xiaohui, a farmer from Shandong province, sits in front of the camera with a bowl of cooked corn in his hands.

He is about to receive new orders for his corn via a social media platform after delivering his online sales pitch.

“The corn just picked at my farm is natural and yummy,” said Zhang as he shovelled a spoonful of the corn into his mouth.

Livestreaming has become a viable source of income for many with the industry booming in recent years.

According to a report published by the China Internet Network Information Center, last year China was home to 397 million users on multiple livestreaming websites, who have formidable purchasing power.

Zhang has become an online star selling his farm produce on Taobao Village Live, a livestreaming platform run by Alibaba.

He started selling farm produce through live-streaming about two weeks ago and now has more than 2,000 online followers, receiving about 20 orders a day.

He also likes to talk about his comfortable life in his hometown of Jianglou.

“Don’t underestimate these farm tools, many urban dwellers have never seen them before,” Zhang said to his followers while shouldering a spade and basket before heading to his cornfields.

Sold the traditional way, corn from 670 square meters only earned him about 1,000 yuan ($141). But the same amount sold through livestreaming brings him income of at least 1,750 yuan.

Low-yield and rare crops grown in Jianglou have also found buyers through Taobao Village Live, according to Zhang.

Jianglou is known as a “Taobao Town” and has built an e-commerce industrial park which integrates business incubation, logistics and online trading.

The industrial park has attracted more than 200 enterprises and inspired a large number of migrant farmers to return home and get involved in livestreaming.

Giving up his job in the city, Liu Baokui, a native of Jianglou, came back and became an online celebrity selling flowers on Taobao Village Live. “The peak time often comes after dinner when white-collar workers in the city, our main target buyers, have just finished work,” Liu said. “So I try to create a lively atmosphere to allow them to feel at ease when I livestream.”

Taobao Towns have rapidly sprung up as the “cyberstar economy” gains traction around China. A report released by Alibaba showed that the number of Taobao Towns has reached 1,118, up from 363 last year.

The younger generation in rural areas is also taking notice of the new economic model.

In Sunzhuang village, Caoxian county in Shandong, more than 200 young people have come back to work in industries connected to Taobao, along with more than 1,000 people from outside areas.

Sales in Sunzhuang village alone are expected to reach 100 million yuan by the end of this year.

Alibaba initiated the Taobao Village Live project this year that covered 270 counties across China in only three months, with nearly 50,000 livestreaming broadcasts watched by over 200 million netizens.