Graduates sought to help improve rural economies
They are being encouraged to use the skills they learned at college to raise living standards in their hometowns. Zhao Yimeng reports.
When Wang Ying discusses crop growth with farmers and teaches them how to sell eggs laid in her home village, life seems far removed from her days as a law school graduate.
The 29-year-old from Chaoyang city in the northeastern province of Liaoning owns an e-commerce enterprise and also founded Cungujincheng, an agricultural produce brand whose name means “A village girl bound for the city.”
With a cultivation base of 66.7 hectares, the company is involved in a range of activities that cover the entire cycle of agricultural production, from growing the crops to selling them on and offline, she said.
As the brand’s name suggests, the rural entrepreneur is bringing locally grown and sourced goods to customers in cities nationwide.
However, returning home to Shijiazi village was not Wang’s first choice in 2014 when she graduated from Jilin University in the neighboring province with a bachelor’s in law.
“As I had worked hard for years to study outside the village, I wanted to make a career in a big city and prove that I was as smart as other people,” Wang said.
While her former classmates were being offered jobs with legal firms in big cities, Wang’s father, who was Party chief of Shijiazi, spoke with her about promoting opportunities in their home village.
“The growing village needed young talent with new ideas. My father thought my knowledge and skills would help its development,” Wang said.
Initially, she was unsure because she had seen how her father had earned money by setting up small businesses and had later worked hard to help lift local people out of poverty.
However, having overcome her doubts, she took the plunge. “I understood my father’s passion and expectations,” she said.
Wang started work with the county government as a public servant and used her legal skills to help villagers overcome adversity.
“My most frequent clients were migrant workers who had not been paid. Solving their problems made me feel fulfilled,” she said, adding that the experience fueled her determination to stay in the village.
In 2015, she came up with the idea of developing e-commerce to sell agricultural produce. She used her parents’ business experience and the methods they learned in Yiwu, a renowned retail hub in Zhejiang province.
Her first step was to offer to rent local farmers’ land at 80 to 100 yuan a day so her startup could grow crops to sell on e-commerce platforms.
However, her advances were met with suspicion by many locals. “They came to my father and asked if I had joined a scammers’ group,” Wang recalled.
Wang and her father assessed the situation and decided to offer reasonable rents to ensure the villagers would not lose money.
Several relatives agreed to act as pilot projects to support Wang’s move, and many villagers agreed to rent out their land once they realized that the development posed no risks.
The land is now used to grow crops such as millet, wheat and grapes to ensure a healthy range of produce.
Other local products such as eggs and tofu skins are sold through e-commerce platforms, including WeChat and Alibaba’s Taobao stores, with revenue reaching about 10,000 yuan ($1,550) a day.
In 2016, Wang quit her government job to focus on her startup. She knew nothing about entrepreneurship before starting the business, so she explored every move step by step.
“I learned the details of e-commerce through experience, such as how to wrap eggs so they wouldn’t be broken when the customer received them,” she said.
Improvements
After the entire business chain had been established, the brand won more regular customers by improving its goods and services.
“There is little difference in the quality of agricultural produce grown in the same area, so details and service matter more,” Wang said, citing the need to provide tear-proof packaging for millet as an example.
She also showed great consideration for vulnerable groups and provided additional services, such as exempting pregnant women from delivery fees.
In 2019, she started developing a grape-growing business in the village, working with rural cooperatives and providing job opportunities for 80 villagers.
Meanwhile, she opened retail stores in nearby Shenyang and in Shanghai, and integrated the online and offline businesses to further promote her brand.
At the height of the COVID-19 epidemic last year, she became a livestreamer and taught her employees — the oldest is in her 50s — how to sell their own products by livestreaming on video platforms.
As a pioneer in rural entrepreneurship, Wang has provided career guidance for students at Shenyang Agricultural University.
“I share my experience of struggling to get out of the village and finally returning. They don’t have to start businesses from the ground because, frankly, it’s not easy, but at least they need to set a goal and work hard for it after college,” Wang said.
“Now, young people are more and more willing to go to the countryside, either trying a startup or finding a job in modern agriculture.”
Support
Her startup has employed graduates from the agricultural university to make good use of their in-depth knowledge. Some were dispatched to the planting base to provide technical support.
In addition to providing such talent, the company has cooperated with the university, applying the results of scientific tests and new technologies to improve the quality of its agricultural produce.
At the beginning of the year, the young entrepreneur was appointed as the new Party chief of Shijiazi. The role, which she took over from her father, demands that she takes more responsibility for the development of the village and each resident’s life, Wang said.
A high-speed rail link between Shenyang and Beijing opened in January, so it only takes villagers two hours to reach the capital. Wang already has plans to use this transportation advantage to develop tourism in the village.
“We can act as Beijing’s vegetable garden, attracting people to spend their weekends and enjoy our healthy agricultural produce,” she said.
“This village girl is on her way to rural vitalization. Talented young people who love the countryside and understand agriculture are always welcome to join us.”