Vloggers ride wave of interest in rural themes

Official recognition

The immense business prospects have earned recognition from authorities. While addressing a forum in Beijing in September, Zhang Guoqing, deputy director of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs' information center, said rural livestreamers are needed for the cause of rural revitalization, a national strategy that aims to rein in urban-rural gaps in areas ranging from income to cultural diversions and infrastructure.

"I am pleased to see that as an emerging occupation, livestreaming is bringing a growing number of young people back to their rural hometowns, which instills momentum into the rural revitalization campaign," he said. In the past, the countryside lost large numbers of young workers to coastal factories, drastically tilting rural demographics toward the elderly.

In August, the Ministry of Commerce released a three-year action plan to boost e-commerce in China's counties and surrounding villages. As part of the plan, grassroots authorities were asked to encourage e-commerce livestreaming and cultivate local trademarks. Ministry figures show that online retail sales of rural products topped 1.12 trillion yuan in the first half of this year, up 12.5 percent year-on-year.

Also in August, after floods and heat waves battered many parts of the country, the National Rural Revitalization Administration issued a circular calling for greater efforts to ensure financially vulnerable food growers did not suffer. Among the many measures it outlined, the circular encouraged the purchase of agricultural products from affected regions and said organizations funded by public money needed to collaborate with e-commerce enterprises — which usually promote sales through livestreaming sessions — to support the expansion of farm produce sales. "Efforts are needed to guide financially strapped households in transforming their products into marketable goods and tangible cash, ultimately promoting stable employment and income growth," it said.