Chinese farmers turn to e-commerce to rid poverty

Farming in China has been booming for over three decades. The summer grain output reached a record high of 141.07 million tons in 2015 after 11 consecutive years of increases.

Though harvests were good, inefficient sales channels, a shrinking labor population and lack of access to loans have been squeezing farmers' earnings and dragging down the rural economy.

In 2014, the per capita disposable income of rural residents rose 9.2 percent year on year to 10,489 yuan, less than half of that of urbanites.

The Internet, especially mobile networks, has provided agriculture with a new vision. E-commerce enables farmers to sell goods quickly, conveniently shop around for materials and obtain small loans more easily.

By the end of June 2015, China had 668 million Internet users, 48.8 percent of the population. Total e-commerce transaction volume in 2014 surged 59.4 percent to 16.39 trillion yuan, nearing its goal of 18 trillion yuan by 2015.

By the end of 2014, nearly 30 percent of China's rural population were online.

China's cabinet unveiled an "Internet Plus" action plan at the beginning of July targeted at integration of the Internet with traditional sectors to make them smarter and more efficient. Along with manufacturing, agriculture was on the top of the list.