A worker promotes local products via livestreaming in a workshop in Rongjiang on April 22, 2021 (XINHUA)

In October 2021, in the paddy fields in Baiwang Village, Rongjiang County, farmers were busy with the rice harvest. Rice grains fly out of the threshing machine, ushering in another year’s harvest. Nearby, fish swimming merrily in the rice paddies attract tourists dressed in festive local ethnic clothes. In the distance, green mountains and clear waters form a beautiful landscape. The county, located in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture, Guizhou Province, is quite scenic and host to a unique, multi-ethnic culture.

At the end of 2020, Rongjiang was taken off the list of impoverished counties and was included in the first batch of counties to receive support under the rural revitalization campaign. Now, with multiple measures, the county is embracing high-quality development and is becoming prosperous.

This lively pastoral scene was broadcast live to viewers in other parts of the nation through the lens of Duliujiang Culture and Media, a local company.

Empowering local industries with new media

Duliujiang Culture and Media Co. belongs to the multimedia center of Rongjiang County. According to Zhu Yuying, Director of the center’s general office, the company was established in October 2020 with the aim of shooting promotional videos for the county. “During the harvest season, we thought it a good opportunity to show our charming rustic life to people from other parts,” said Zhu. In her eyes, the ultimate goal of China’s rural revitalization drive is to create a good life for everyone.

The online response lived up to expectations. The beautiful scenery and authentic representation of rural life attracted a large audience. Participating media groups including state broadcaster CCTV also chimed in to recommend their channel to more audiences, helping them get over 100,000 views for their show.

Duliujiang is also jumping on the livestreaming bandwagon to sell local agricultural products. Yang Zhenzhen is one of the local livestreaming sellers. Hailing from Dujiang Village, she made a living by farming and taking on some odd jobs. In 2021, on the advice of her relatives, Yang contracted 13.3 hectares of farmland with friends to grow golden pomelos. In addition to offline sales, they are also sold through online channels such as Pinduoduo and WeChat. As the pomelos are famous for being green, healthy, and tasty, Yang was invited by Duliujiang when the latter was preparing for the live broadcast of the Chinese New Year Shopping Festival at the beginning of 2022.

During the livestream, in just two hours, over 5,000 kg of pomelos were sold, generating 40,000 yuan ($4,288). Via livestream sales, Duliujiang helped the locals earn around 600,000 yuan ($94,140) in six months.

On January 26, 2022, the Cyberspace Administration of China released an action plan for digital development in rural areas from 2022 to 2025, aiming to promote rural modernization and revitalization through information technology. The plan stressed to train farmers to be new media savvy, and to develop digital culture in the countryside. Rongjiang County is taking advantage of these favorable policies to foster a livestreaming boom.

Optimistic about their future

Wu Zhuhuan is from Wugong Village, Zhaihao Town of Rongjiang. Her family used to be a poor household. Now she runs an inn and an embroidery workshop.

The traditional embroidery of the Dong ethnic group, one of the National Intangible Cultural Heritages, is famous for colorful patterns stitched with silk and cotton threads. Wu, belonging to the Dong ethnic group, has been interested in the design and embroidery of Dong costumes since childhood. She dabbled in embroidery in her spare time; however, small orders did not bring a noticeable difference to her family. The annual income of her family was only around 10,000 yuan ($1,569).

In June 2021, Wu rented a hotel and opened her embroidery workshop. The beautiful scenery and charming local culture have brought many tourists, and Wu also opened personal accounts on social media platform, which also brought Wu much business.

However, due to lack of professional marketing skills, the number of followers did not grow as she expected. To help solve this problem facing many livestreamers in the county, the company where Zhu Yuying worked invited professionals from Beijing and other cities to give lectures. “We organized training classes on the trends of new media, and on how to shoot a video, and how to livestream at home with a smartphone,” Zhu explained.

On November 25, 2021, a cultural industrial park program was initiated in Rongjiang, aiming to revitalize the county through new media. On the sidelines, a project to incubate 1,000 villagers as spokespersons of their hometowns was also launched. With encouragement, over 500 people signed up.

The industrial park has multiple functions, including incubating and training new media talent, pooling online influencers, and connecting forerunner enterprises in the new media era, building a high-quality product supply chain, and providing government support policies. Up to now, local people have registered a total of 351 online accounts on various new media platforms and posted 5,565 video clips.

An office has also been set up in Rongjiang to coordinate local resources for the development of the new media industry. According to Wang Qiang, a leader of the office, there are 12 enterprises setting up branches in the industrial park. On January 21, a circular was released by the local government to support enterprises to settle in the park. “We provide houses free of rent for their employees. Rongjiang is doing its best to facilitate the running of businesses,” said Wang.

Cooperation between different regions

Rongjiang is a transport hub in south Guizhou and is also a gateway to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It is now being built into a key health care center, a tourist destination with abundant revolutionary heritage, and a backyard garden of the Greater Bay Area as it is within three hours’ drive from the latter.

With the introduction of enterprises with a mature industrial chain like Huipeng, Rongjiang is developing rapidly. In 2021, the agricultural, forestry, and animal husbandry products as well as local handicrafts sold in Guangdong and other provinces brought Rongjiang 473 million yuan ($74.2 million). At present, Rongjiang and Nanhai District of Foshan in Guangdong are drafting an east-west cooperation plan for the period till 2025.