Lianjiang and Suixi counties of Zhanjiang were selected as national comprehensive demonstration counties for rural e-commerce for the year of 2020, according to the Guangdong Provincial Department of Commerce on July 6.

The selection was jointly launched by the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce, and the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development, aiming to promote the development of rural e-commerce, establish a modern rural market system, as well as assist in poverty alleviation and rural revitalization efforts.

Counties that were selected to be on the list are encouraged to take measures like loans with discounted interest, purchasing services, and substitute subsidies with rewards to attract social capital to participate in rural e-commerce.

Guangdong has a total of 10 counties that were selected as national comprehensive demonstration counties for rural e-commerce for the year of 2020. The eight other counties were Guangning of Zhaoqing, Fogang of Qingyuan, Luhe of Shanwei, Huazhou of Maoming, Nan'ao of Shantou, Longmen of Huizhou, as well as Nanxiong and Wenyuan of Shaoguan.

Lianjiang has been boosting the development of e-commerce in recent years. To date, the county has set up two local e-commerce service platforms, as well as two e-commerce enterprises with an annual sales volume of more than 10 million yuan ($1.42 million), and eight others with an annual sales volume of over 5 million yuan.

An e-commerce training base has also been established and put into operation in Lianjiang, with more than 1,600 people receiving training there. More than 1,500 people were lifted out of poverty through e-commerce targeted poverty alleviation efforts.

In 2019, Lianjiang's online retail sales of agricultural products increased by 23 percent from the previous year, and entered the top 10 among the 42 provincial e-commerce demonstration counties for rural e-commerce.

Suixi became the first pilot county in Zhanjiang for Rural Taobao in 2015 and the first provincial-level comprehensive demonstration county in Zhanjiang for rural e-commerce in 2018.

Rural Taobao is a public service initiative launched by China's e-commerce giant Alibaba in 2014 to increase e-commerce adoption in China's remote rural areas.

From 2017 to 2019, the online retail sales of agricultural products in Suixi grew by 79.4 percent annually. In 2019, the county's online retail sales of agricultural products reached 1.03 billion yuan, ranking first among all the 42 provincial e-commerce demonstration counties for rural e-commerce.