How young grassroots CPC heads are changing rural China

Guanshan Village in central China's Hunan Province is located in remote mountainous area, and local products can't be easily marketed or distributed.

Inspired by online agricultural influencers, Secretary of Communist Party of China (CPC) branch of the village Huang Jie launched an account on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, under the moniker "Village Chief of Green Mountain." Through short videos and livestreams, Huang shows rural life and scenery much to the delight of his subscribers.

Recognizing the challenges faced by villagers in reaching distant markets, Huang and his team of six young locals formed a livestreaming group in efforts to provide stable sales channel for local goods.

"Initially, sales were modest," Huang told domestic media China Net. "But persistence pays off."

Despite early skepticism and sales hurdles, he remained focused on running the account. His videos featured snippets of daily life, explainers about local produce, and calls for positive community engagement. "Accumulating trust takes time," he said, "but good content and genuine products attract traffic eventually."

Over time, his livestreams have attracted thousands of viewers, resulting in significant sales boosts. Local products like chestnuts soared in demand, with one broadcast alone resulting in 750 orders.

Selling directly from the source has increased the income of villagers, especially the elderly and female residents.

Since last November, his broadcasts have generated more than 13,200 orders, with cumulative sales of over 700,000 yuan (about $96,322), benefiting up to 12,000 villagers. Today, Huang's broadcasts routinely result in 300 to 500 orders a day, with viewership exceeding 20,000.

While juggling his duties as head of the village and livestreamer, Huang envisions "building a brand for local agricultural products, so that the village's collective economy can become the supplier of online platforms."

CPC members like Huang are facilitating China's rural revitalization drive. At the end of 2023, there were nearly 490,000 secretaries of Party organizations in villages, 44 percent of whom held junior college degrees or above.

In Bobai County, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Li Chunyan returned to her hometown after serving eight years in the military, determined to make a difference.

What she found was both a challenge and an opportunity: her hometown's lychees were of superior quality yet villagers struggled with low market prices. This realization sparked Li's entrepreneurial spirit, leading her to revolutionize local lychee processing.

Partnering with a close friend, Li embraced mechanized drying and standardized production methods, coupled with elegant packaging. This innovation birthed the renowned "Hakka Lychee" brand, helping to increase income of the villagers.

In 2020, she was elected Party secretary of Emei Village. Under her leadership, the village embarked on ambitious agricultural expansions, notably scaling up the cultivation of mayberry and establishing a water buffalo dairy farm.

Over the past four years, she mobilized villagers to form multiple rural cooperatives, significantly boosting local dairy production and revitalizing traditional crafts like Chinese silver grass weaving, which now sees its products exported worldwide.

Villager Song Hui attests to Li's contribution. "Li guided us to learn weaving techniques and secured orders for our products. Before, we had little to do after the mayberry harvest. Now, we're almost overwhelmed with work."

Buoyed by national rural revitalization strategies, Emei Village under Li's leadership continues to prosper. Infrastructure improvements include construction of bridges, development of canals, and the building of cultural and recreational spaces.

Looking ahead, Li plans to establish a tourism cooperative, aiming to build premium rural tourism destinations.