Short videos aim to promote countryside tourism

Qingyuan welcomed about 40 million tourists, 30 percent of whom were overnight visitors, last year, a 14 percent increase over 2016.

Tourism income increased nearly 17 percent to 31.5 billion yuan ($4.54 billion).

About 1.1 million of Qingyuan's 3.84 million residents are registered Kuaishou users. Over 200,000 are active daily, according to the company.

Kuaishou's vice-president, Long An, expresses confidence that short videos will hone the spokespeople's new media skills.

"Over 10 million Kuaishou users have made money by livestreaming or marketing products in the past year," he says.

"Our platform is playing an important role in improving individual lives, boosting industries and spreading positive energy."

Long says the company will give full play to its expertise in artificial intelligence, big data analysis and advanced technologies to boost innovation, communication and mutual understanding among the users of Kuaishou.

He says he also hopes that influencers on Kuaishou will support public service activities and contribute to poverty alleviation in their hometowns.

Yi Xuan, who's in charge of government affairs in Kuaishou, says: "The creativity and quality of short videos made by users in Qingyuan are above average among all regions. These short videos attract more "likes" and hits. And that means that other users are interested in what they share in the videos."

She says influencers in Qingyuan have large fan bases. They range from singers to craftspeople, who sculpt clay figurines.

It's part of Kuaishou's project, Discover the Beauty of China, which aims to promote distinctive resources in China's small cities and counties, and to improve local economies.

The company has also partnered with Yongsheng, a county below the poverty line in Lijiang, Yunnan province.

Yi believes such short videos will help areas under the poverty line address the problem of poor communication with other places by, for example, promoting local farm produce and showcasing local lifestyles.

Kuaishou plans to select 100 potential users in the Chinese countryside within three years and invite them to Beijing for professional training in such areas as marketing to enable them to generate income from video-sharing.

"Our selection of government partners is largely dependent on the regions' user bases, and user-generated content is important," she says.

Over 15 million short videos are uploaded on Kuaishou every day, she says. Many are about people's ordinary lives.

The Kuaishou program shows that the mobile-internet era makes it increasingly convenient for people from different regions to create mutual understanding.

And it creates job opportunities and business cooperation, especially in developing areas.