With the help of e-commerce platforms, a county in northwest China's Shaanxi Province is now selling its famous jujubes nationwide, supplying a strong boost to the local agriculture sector. Qingjian, a county on the Loess Plateau, has grown jujube trees for more than 3,000 years, with the planting area now totaling 60,000 hectares.
Unfortunately, the jujube industry did not do well in recent years. For a long time, jujubes were sold at low prices as primary commodities on the wholesale market, with the profit declining due to intensified competition. But today, the country's booming e-commerce industry is helping Qingjian turn headwinds into tailwinds. In 2021, as part of an initiative by e-commerce giant Alibaba Group to promote rural revitalization, Liang Yu was sent as a representative of the Alibaba Foundation to Qingjian to help sell local agricultural products on e-commerce platforms.
In July last year, a type of fruit preserve called amethyst jujube grabbed Liang's attention during his visits to some local households. Liang worked with local producers of amethyst jujubes to upgrade the product's flavor, packaging and sales mode.
"We have improved the production methods, redesigned the packaging, and actively participated in marketing campaigns by the e-commerce platforms, thus getting more online consumers to know about amethyst jujubes," he said.
Since October 2022, Alibaba platforms have seen 200,000 orders placed each month for amethyst jujubes.
Source: english.news.cn