The draft of the national 15th Five-Year Plan proposes to "deepen the development of a unified national market, resolutely eliminate obstacles and blockages hindering its construction, eradicate local protectionism and market fragmentation, and facilitate the smooth flow of commodity resources across broader regions." Liu Lei, a National People's Congress deputy and Director of the Tongjiang E-commerce Development Center, has utilized an internet connection to construct a digital "expressway" for selling local agricultural products.
The challenge of "good wine needing no bush" once troubled farmers in Tongjiang. Deputy Liu Lei stated that although Tongjiang boasts high-quality rice, fresh cold-water fish, and unique Hezhen ethnic intangible cultural heritage foods, these superior products previously struggled to reach markets beyond the border region. Believing that building roads is the first step to prosperity, she asserts that in the digital economy era, e-commerce serves as the fastest "expressway" for agricultural products to leave rural villages.
To extend this "road" directly to the fields, Liu Lei led her team to deeply explore local resources and meticulously plan the "One Village, One Product – Savoring Tongjiang" video series. By focusing cameras on rice paddies, fishing beaches, and Hezhen villages, specialty products like Tongjiang rice, Hezhen handicrafts, honey, and sturgeon products gained fame online. She innovatively moved live-streaming sessions onto the black soil during the 2025 harvest season. Through a "field live-streaming + customized rice" model, consumers witnessed the entire process from harvesting to processing new rice in real-time, shifting the sales approach from waiting for buyers to receiving advance orders.
Liu Lei remarked, "Allowing viewers to genuinely appreciate the abundance of Tongjiang's produce while exploring its flavors demonstrates the vitality of e-commerce."
With the "road" built, skilled "drivers" were needed. Many farmers and returning youth had entrepreneurial enthusiasm but lacked e-commerce operational skills. To address this, she actively integrated resources to establish a three-dimensional training system combining "theory + practical operation + real-world application." A series of e-commerce empowerment training sessions were implemented. Covering topics from the underlying logic of Douyin product cards to selection strategies, and from Double Eleven policy support to interpretations of foreign-related laws, Liu Lei not only invited experts to teach but also frequently instructed herself, encouraging locals to adopt smartphones as new agricultural tools.
By 2025, Tongjiang City had cumulatively trained and incubated over 4,000 e-commerce live-streamers. An increasing number of farmers transformed into "digital new farmers." At Xingwang Fish Shop, fishermen now sell freshly caught mandarin fish directly to customers in Guangzhou via live streams, achieving "same-day shipping and next-day delivery." In intangible cultural heritage workshops, Hezhen women evolved from computer novices to moderately well-known hosts, enabling fish-skin art to reach nationwide audiences through e-commerce.
Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan period, Deputy Liu Lei has a clear blueprint: accelerate the construction of the e-commerce system, develop distinctive brands like the "Tongjiang Sturgeon Pavilion," achieve a transition from offline to online operations, and ensure the e-commerce "expressway" connecting the black soil with the vast world becomes increasingly broad and prosperous.
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