Two days after the first week of November, the transaction amount on the "In the Village" trading platform in Rongchang District, Chongqing Has reached 10,000 yuan, and special agricultural products such as beef jerky and Xinqi vegetable oil have become popular commodities on this e-commerce platform. Mr. Guo, who is far away in the Dongxing District of Neijiang, Sichuan, spent 149 yuan on the platform through his mobile phone to buy hebao vermicelli, and within two days he ate the authentic sweet potato flour of Rongchang Hebao Town. Just past the double eleven, the first day of the pre-sale of an e-commerce platform, the rural practical micro excavator became a hit, and the order volume of merchants doubled. Under the new development pattern, the sinking market is emerging, and consumer groups account for about 70% of the national population.
What is the significance of the vast rural area in the establishment of the domestic large circulation system? How can we unleash greater potential? After comprehensive poverty alleviation, how will farmers, as the main body of production and market, play a role in the new development pattern? The Beijing News reporter interviewed Professor Wu Laping of the College of Economics and Management of China Agricultural University, as a market early warning expert of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, to hear what his unique insights were.
Rural express delivery point in Wulanchabuhuade County, Inner Mongolia. Beijing News reporter Geng Ziye photographed
Agricultural products are online, and standardization is the first
When the Beijing News reporter visited the Rongchang District of Chongqing, he found that all the villages have a "at the head of the village". The so-called "at the head of the village" is actually a transfer station for villagers, recycling the characteristic products in the village, through unified quality control and packaging, to create a brand, and to launch sales in a unified manner. At present, there are more than 800 items that can be sold online and offline. In addition, villagers can also exchange their own agricultural products on the platform for daily necessities, eggs for dish soap, vegetables for salt, etc., and it is easy to get the goods they need.
"If every agricultural product wants to go online, standardization is the first." Wu Laping said that as long as standardization is done well, online sales are borderless, and international logistics are done well, and any country in the world can buy agricultural products from rural China.
Chongqing Rongchang experience store in the village head offline. Beijing News reporter Geng Ziye photographed
Ran Yanling, the relevant person in charge of "At the head of the village", introduced to reporters that the quality of agricultural products in the village is different, and the first thing to face in the recycling of agricultural products is quality control. Village-level inspection, warehouse recycling inspection, ordinary agricultural products to go through the packaging and agricultural product testing center, the product sampling inspection, so that the supply can be traced, only through these strict checks can let the agricultural products circulate online.
The reporter learned that "in the village" was originally positioned as "serving the three rural areas and committed to the sales of agricultural products in the region", but now the sale has been done nationwide, and from the perspective of real-time rolling transaction volume, local agricultural products have been exported to Hainan, Beijing and other places. Such agricultural product platforms provide trading venues for the township collective economy, among which The Shang Shu Honey and Wanling Hemp Cake of the Wanling Town Collective Economy are sold online, and the pretzel flavored hemp cake has recently been sold out of stock.
Rural consumption and income increased against the trend in the first three quarters
This year, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out around the world, and the economic development was greatly impacted. According to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in October, the cumulative GDP growth rate in the first three quarters turned from negative to positive for the first time, an increase of 0.7% year-on-year.
Wu Laping, a professor at the School of Economics and Management of China Agricultural University, said that in the first three quarters of this year, investment drove GDP growth by 3.1 percentage points, net exports pulled 0.1 percentage points, while consumption dragged its legs backwards, pulling backward by 2.5 percentage points. "Activating market vitality and releasing consumption momentum is still a top priority."
Professor Wu Laping, College of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University. Beijing News reporter Wang Wei photographed
Comparing the data between urban and rural areas, it can be seen that the consumption growth of rural residents in the first three quarters of this year is better than that of urban residents, with consumption growth rates of 0.8% and -5.6% respectively; data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that in the first half of the year, the per capita disposable income of rural residents was 8069 yuan, with a nominal growth rate of 3.7%, 2.2 percentage points faster than that of urban residents.
Whether it is consumption or income, rural residents are better than urban residents. However, in order to further rural consumption, Wu Laping believes that the government needs to carry out corresponding policy guidance, including raising the minimum purchase price of wheat and rice, strengthening the pig industry support policy, and guiding migrant workers to work in the city in an orderly manner, so as to further increase farmers' incomes and stimulate rural consumption upgrading.
In the case of the global spread of the epidemic, why will China's rural consumption and income grow against the trend?
Wu Laping analyzed that migrant workers go to the city to work, and most of the money they earn is sent home to support the elderly and children; the impact of the epidemic on the urban industry is large, and if there is no work in the city, the migrant workers will return to the countryside. "If the city needs it, the migrant workers will come out; if they don't need it in the city, the migrant workers will go back, so the countryside is the reservoir for the migrant workers."
This year, rural industries have been hit much less than cities. From the end of last year to the beginning of this year, agricultural production has steadily advanced, and the summer grain harvest and autumn grain harvest have basically become a foregone conclusion, and the income has increased, and the consumption of rural residents will also increase.
Wu Laping said that consumption includes eight categories such as clothing, food, housing and transportation, the components of urban and rural residents' consumption are different, urban residents' consumption is more development-oriented and enjoyment-oriented, and the biggest impact of the epidemic is also the entertainment and leisure tourism industry, so it is more difficult for urban residents to grow consumption. In rural areas, the consumer group is mainly the elderly, children and women, and this kind of just-needed consumption is not much affected by the epidemic.
Rural e-commerce consumption, trillion-level market is only a small goal
2020 is the final year of poverty alleviation, which means that our country will eliminate poverty and build a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way.
Recently, Liu Huanxin, vice minister of agriculture and rural affairs, said at a press conference that farmers' incomes have doubled ahead of schedule. The per capita disposable income of rural residents exceeded 16,000 yuan in 2019, doubling one year ahead of schedule from 2010, and the growth rate was higher than that of urban residents for 10 consecutive years. The income gap between urban and rural residents continued to narrow, from 2.73:1 in 2015 to 2.64:1 in 2019. In the first three quarters of this year, the per capita disposable income of rural residents reached 12297 yuan, an actual increase of 1.6%, and the growth rate in the fourth quarter will continue to increase.
Can China's rural areas after poverty alleviation become an important consumption force? The answer is yes.
Wu Laping said that the consumption demand of the population after poverty alleviation will actually grow more, at present, the poverty alleviation population only meets the basic food and clothing needs, other needs have not been well met, as long as they are given enough opportunities to increase income, on the basis of meeting the food and clothing, other consumption demand will be released. Coupled with the small consumption base of the people lifted out of poverty, the potential for growth is even greater. "This part of the population should be the focus of rural consumption upgrading."
Zhang Ai, 28 years old, graduated three years ago, works for a new media company in Beijing, and his parents work as farmers in their hometown in Hebei Province. During the Double Eleven period, she took advantage of the high discount of e-commerce to buy small household appliances such as microwave ovens and vacuum cleaners to her home, and even daily necessities such as toilet paper and toothpaste were also stockpiled.
Previously, parents who were cautious about online shopping have gradually changed their views on this. The village commissary is a courier point, and you can pick up the courier in ten minutes. "Now, there is nothing missing in the family, and my parents often let me look for it online." Zhang Ai told reporters that the village's express delivery point is also free, every day will go to the town to pull express, logistics speed is not slower than the city, during the epidemic at home, many people are shopping online, the village commissary is full, almost nowhere to get off.
In the WeChat group of Saibuleng Village in Huade County, Inner Mongolia, villagers who opened a commissary posted express delivery information in the group. Beijing News reporter Geng Ziye photographed
Wu Laping calculated an account to reporters, There are 230 million farmers in China, each farmer may buy online, if the purchase and service can be solved through the Network, the realization of the trillion-level market is only a small goal. Conservatively speaking, if each farmer buys something for 1,000 yuan a year from the Internet, this is a market of 100 billion. Farmers' income is guaranteed and consumption has channels, so that rural e-commerce can easily drive the market.
In particular, the 14th Five-Year Plan proposes to comprehensively promote consumption, promote the integration and development of online and offline consumption, and open up urban and rural consumer markets. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs also conducts training in vast rural areas to teach farmers the use of mobile phones and computers. Wu Laping said that the improvement of this part of the capacity will also play a prominent role in the future new consumption in rural areas. However, the government is only an auxiliary guide, and some companies and enterprises in rural areas are the main force in the development of the rural market.
Rectify rural markets and investigate and deal with counterfeit and shoddy goods
Any market may have some problems at a relatively rapid stage of development, and counterfeit and shoddy products in rural markets are a stubborn disease that people have been criticizing.
Geng Yan, who lives in Tushan Village, Gaocheng District, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, asked his neighbor to buy a toothpaste in the district. "It's not that the village can't buy it, it's just that it's used to this, and although the village sells cheaply, it may encounter fakes." In the past two years, Geng Yan no longer buys toothpaste from the village commissary, but buys it from a large supermarket in the town or district.
Geng Yan, who has a higher pursuit of the quality of life, will use twelve points of fire eyes to distinguish every online shopping, and always believe that one penny is one penny. "If the things on the Internet are too cheap to buy, and if they are too expensive, they are not bought, but they are worth the money."
From "Kang Shuaibo" instant noodles, "Wanghao" milk, "six nuclear bombs" walnut milk, "YueLi Yue" biscuits, etc., to fake fertilizers, fake seeds, fake pesticides, etc., fake goods once appeared in an endless stream. Recently, the state has taken action to rectify the "three noes" food in rural areas, and the State Administration of Market Regulation, the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, and the five departments of the China National Supply and Marketing Cooperative have jointly deployed special law enforcement actions for fake and shoddy food in rural areas, and villagers can report through the 12315 reporting hotline.
"Compared with the fakes in the traditional farmers' markets in the past, if online shopping encounters so-called fakes, it is easier to trace." Wu Laping said that in the context of the Internet big data era, every online transaction can be traced back to the source and easier to control. Big data can capture the information of any enterprise, and the information is becoming more and more transparent, especially those who want to become bigger are concerned about quality and brand.
Rural "new consumption", relying on rural "new infrastructure"
In 2035, China will basically be modernized, when the time comes, what will the modern countryside look like? Will the urban-rural divide be completely eliminated?
"In the process of modernization, there is still a lot of work to be done in the rural areas, and in another 15 years, the gap between urban and rural areas will be further narrowed, but the gap between income and consumption between urban and rural areas will not be completely eliminated." Wu Laping believes that income determines consumption, and consumption is affected by the concept. At present, the gap between urban and rural income is still relatively large, although this gap will be further narrowed in the future, but it is impossible to completely eliminate the income gap between urban and rural areas.
Wu Laping analysis, at present, China's rural population accounts for about 40%, but the primary industry accounts for 7% of China's GDP, urban population accounts for 60%, creating 93% of GDP, income and payment should be proportional, from this aspect alone, urban and rural income can not be completely flat. "In economics, income is a function of consumption, and the income gap exists, and the consumption gap also exists, but the institutional advantages of Chinese socialism determine that the government will gradually narrow the gap between urban and rural residents through macroeconomic regulation and control."
Rural commissary in Wulanchabuhuade County, Inner Mongolia. Beijing News reporter Geng Ziye photographed
Wu Laping has been studying China's rural economic problems for many years, paying attention to new rural consumption and narrowing the gap between urban and rural areas, he suggested that rural "new infrastructure" is the premise and important condition for "new consumption" in rural areas, on the one hand, the government should actively promote the construction of digital villages, accelerate the construction of rural information highways, and promote the popularization and digital construction of rural Internet; on the other hand, the government should also actively strengthen the construction of rural logistics systems, and open up the "last kilometer" for online transactions and e-commerce.
Over the years, the consumption enthusiasm of rural residents in China has not been very high, which is related to the imperfection of social security systems such as medical care, pension and unemployment. In the context of the current economic weakness, the government should further promote the reform of the rural social security system and solve the worries of the vast number of farmers.
In addition, the government also needs to strengthen support for low-income groups and poor people in rural areas, and issue consumption vouchers to low-income groups that have been greatly affected by the epidemic, which can stimulate consumption and improve their lives. In addition, in the context of the global economic crisis in 2008, China has implemented the "home appliances to the countryside", which not only improves the living conditions of the majority of farmers, but also alleviates the inventory pressure of home appliance enterprises, and the government can also pilot subsidies for the purchase of some durable consumer goods, stimulate the rural durable consumer goods market, and promote rural consumption.
Beijing News reporter Geng Ziye
Edited by Zhang Shujing Proofreader Wei Zhuo
Source: Beijing News