Tonglu ranks high nationwide in rural digital development

An event themed on digital rural development is held in Eshan township, Tonglu county, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Tonglu county in East China's Zhejiang province was ranked 50th on the 2020 list of top 100 counties (districts) in China in terms of digital development of rural areas, according to a report recently released by the New Rural Development Institute of Peking University and the AliResearch Institute at Alibaba Group.

A total of 2,481 counties (districts) across the nation were evaluated based on factors including digital infrastructure, digital economy, digital governance and digital life in rural areas.

Digital development in rural areas is widely considered an effective means to narrow the urban-rural development gap, according to experts.

Thirty-two places from Zhejiang province made the top 100 list. Furthermore, eight of the top 10 places are from Zhejiang.

Tonglu has in recent years made significant strides in rural digital development. Its investments in this regard have totaled 900 million yuan ($138.46 million) to date.

The local government has allocated a fund worth more than 13 million to build a "digital rural brain", a unified management platform for data related to agriculture and rural resources.

All townships and sub-districts in the county presently have 5G coverage provided by 1,029 base stations.

Tonglu is currently home to 10 intelligent agriculture demonstration parks and has set up 460 e-commerce service stations in its rural areas.

The apiculture industrial brain developed by the county, the first of its kind in Zhejiang, has also been listed among provincial excellent digital explorations.

In addition, all administrative services in the county can be handled online.