Entrepreneur conducts live e-commerce training sessions for over 100 farmers

Gu Weijun, an entrepreneur and e-commerce instructor, conducted a live-streamed e-commerce training for more than 10 participants in Youqiao Village, Nanhu District, Jiaxing City, east China’s Zhejiang Province.

After a 20-minute simulated live broadcast session, Gu provided examples and detailed instructions on various aspects of live broadcasting, including interactive skills. His lively presentation kept the participants engaged.

The training model is the result of GU’s own practical experience and the commune’s training programme.

Gu Weijun (right) teaches e-commerce to farmers in Daqiao Township, Nanhu District, Jiaxing City, east China’s Zhejiang Province, via live broadcast. (Photo/Wu Yuliang)

Gu runs a family farm and a live-streaming studio across from the Youqiao Village Tourist Center. He also edits videos and posts them online.

“The site is provided by the village. I invested nearly 50,000 yuan ($6,888) to buy the equipment,” Gu said, adding that nearby farmers can use the studio for free.

Gu quit his job in the city and returned to his hometown to set up a family farm in 2015. With his experience in e-commerce, he became the first online store in the village.

When Gu learned that the commune had started organizing an e-commerce talent incubation program for agricultural and non-agricultural products, including courses in short filmmaking and live-streaming promotion skills, he immediately signed up.

While continuing to attend training sessions, Gu gained practical experience by hosting live-streamed sessions.

As a pioneer in live e-commerce in the village, Gu shares his knowledge with other villagers. In early 2023, he became a live e-commerce instructor in the commune and has provided training to over 100 farmers.

Deng Meilin, who was born after 1995, took Gu’s classes last year and later began advertising agricultural products via live broadcasts, which resulted in an increase in sales.

“In the past, we only held live broadcasts to sell products. But now we hope that through live broadcasts, we can also boost the development of rural tourism,” Gu said.

Inspired by Gu, Deng tried to organize group buying on the short video platform and encourage users to take part in grape-harvesting activities, which is part of the growing grape business.

During this year’s three-day Duanwu Festival, the average daily number of tourists visiting the village exceeded 500.

“Thanks to the live broadcast sessions, more and more customers are becoming tourists, and rural tourism in our village is flourishing,” said Wei Liang, party chief of Youqiao village.

Since 2018, Nanhu District has offered 103 e-commerce live broadcast training sessions, attracting more than 3,600 participants. Since the beginning of this year, rural online retail sales in the district have reached about 89 million yuan, up 11.4 percent year-on-year.

In recent years, the rapid development of rural e-commerce has unleashed the consumption potential of rural areas in China. In 2023, rural online retail sales reached 2.49 trillion yuan, and agricultural online retail sales rose to 590 billion yuan, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce.

China plans to create about 100 rural e-commerce “leading” counties, build about 1,000 county-level live-streaming e-commerce bases and cultivate about 10,000 people to play a leading role in rural e-commerce within five years, according to a document issued by the ministry and eight other departments in March this year.

(Website Editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)