China is looking at specific, targeted measures in its bid to combat poverty, and one of these is developing e-commerce infrastructure in rural impoverished areas. CGTN's Ren Xueqian spoke to an official from the Ministry of Commerce about its efforts to achieve this goal in southwestern China's Sichuan province. He explained how more modern farming techniques and online sales platforms are helping Chinese farmers to sell more of their produce for larger profits.

With China looking to significantly narrow the wealth gap between its urban and rural areas, e-commerce is being seen as the magic bullet.

For instance, these farmers in the Guang'an prefecture of Sichuan province: their livelihoods rely solely on seasonal produce, such as these pomelos - a type of grapefruit - which typically only ripen in November.

Jin Dafu - an official from the Chinese ministry of commerce, whose work is focused on the development of e-commerce in Guang'an - says the farmers soon saw the benefits of selling their produce online over more traditional, familiar methods.

JIN DAFU MINISTRY OF COMMERCE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES "One medium-to-high-quality grapefruit is sold at eight kuai by wholesalers; whereas online, farmers can sell them for anything between 10 to 15 kuai. Pomelos account for about 18 percent of their total sales. E-commerce can ensure that high-quality goods are available to more consumers, thus increasing sales and profit for the farmers."

And the reason behind such an increase in quality, sales and consumption? The power of the Internet.

JIN DAFU MINISTRY OF COMMERCE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES "E-commerce platforms address problems such as unequal market consumption and can increase the distribution of information. This helps farmers learn more about their competition, consumers prices and needs and for consumers, they can directly learn more about the quality of goods they're purchasing. This will attract more customers willing to pay inside a higher price range."

And with seasonal fruits now commanding a higher price online, Jin says it won't be long before local poultry products follow suit. To ensure the competitiveness of these goods in the market, he's connecting the farmers with selected enterprises.

JIN DAFU MINISTRY OF COMMERCE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES "We involved a processing company to help the farmers process the leftover leaves, and turn pomelo plants into pomelo tea. We have put in place monitoring mechanisms to ensure the farmers get their fair share of the returns and that what's collected by each village is larger than what the enterprise receives."

According to numbers released by the National Bureau of Statistics, China's poverty rate fell by nearly one-and-a-half percentage points to just three percent last year while per capita disposable income rose from 8.4 to 9.1 percent. 

With China looking to totally eradicate poverty in just two and a half years, technology is seen as the primary engine in realising that ambitious goal. RXQ, CGTN, BJ.