By Wang Zhe; Translated by Xia Hailin
Liu Qiangdong, chairman and chief executive officer of the Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com, is excited to serve as a member of CPPCC (Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference). He believes that scientific and solid strategies on the development of agriculture, rural areas and farmers are now taking shape in China, from targeted poverty alleviation to rural revitalization. To achieve rural revitalization, investment in education in the remote rural areas must be increased. He hopes that the national special college enrollment program for students in rural and poverty-stricken areas will continue to be offered.
In our interview, Liu said that he fully agrees with the Government Work Report on allocating “a greater share of funds for public education to poor areas and weak links.” He explained with his own experience: “When I was young, I went to primary school in northern Jiangsu province. Of the 45 pupils in my class, only three managed to continue into secondary school. Unfortunately, all the others were denied the opportunity to change their destinies through education. I suggest we continue to strengthen educational assistance in remote rural areas by encouraging volunteers to join these efforts. We should encourage those engaged in this work to stay with the local community for a long time by providing them with tangible benefits such as housing, subsidies and higher wages.”
Based on his firm’s experience in poverty alleviation, Liu submitted a proposal related to the competitiveness of agricultural products, the cultivation of “poverty alleviation brands,” the construction of logistics facilities for agricultural products, and “consumption for poverty alleviation” at the CPPCC session this year.
First, promote the large-scale production of agricultural products to enhance the competitiveness of agriculture.
Liu opined that poverty-stricken areas should improve the quality of agricultural products by improving the production standard system and quality certification system while giving full play to the role of green, high-efficiency technologies in agricultural production and breeding improvement. Local governments should strengthen coordination and support for the efficient utilization of land resources and development of leading agricultural enterprises. Various social resources such as e-commerce should be fully utilized to develop a large-scale diversified economy in the remote rural areas so their products enter the market with enhanced competitiveness.
Second, mobilize social resources to build “poverty alleviation brands.”
Liu suggested strengthening brand-building of agricultural products. Based on advantages of traditional agriculture, various localities should optimally utilize their resource potential and actively develop special brands, especially “poverty alleviation brands.”
Third, introduce incentive policies to accelerate construction of logistics facilities for agricultural products.
Liu suggested the government expand construction of logistics facilities for agricultural products in rural areas by providing greater coordination and support for enterprises to build point of origin warehousing and refrigerated distribution channels , improving sales and preserve the allure of fresh agricultural products. Meanwhile, the government should play a lead role in overall planning for construction and utilization of cold chain logistics facilities, so this “new path” for poverty alleviation will continue running smoothly for a long time.
Fourth, increase publicity on poverty alleviation to promote “consumption for poverty alleviation.”
Liu suggested the national media play a bigger role in enhancing awareness of poverty alleviation work to all of society and encouraging the public to participate in this campaign in any way they can, including small e-commerce efforts. The government should actively promote a social atmosphere for “consumption for poverty alleviation” by providing support for e-commerce platforms to launch online shops, galleries and channels dedicated to this endeavor.
China Report ASEAN 