By He Yupeng, Chen Chunliang & Jin Sanlin, Department of Rural Economy of DRC

Research Report No 101, 2015 (Total 4786)

Abstract:

Survey findings in Taobao Village and Taobao Town in Boxing County, Binzhou City, Shandong Province, show that "Internet Plus conventional industries" is an effective path leading to an integrated development of the sixth-sector industrialization in rural areas. Under the "Internet Plus" model, farmers are transformed, via virtual market platforms, into merchants capable of gaining profits through circulation unavailable in physical marketplaces. This reality not only gives rise to an effective integration of the three industries and the progression of the sixth-sector industrialization in rural areas, but also provides new industrial support as another incentive for local urbanization with the conception of "leaving the farmland but not the homeland". Efforts should be made on strengthening policy support for infrastructure construction and personnel training of rural e-commerce in order to propel an effective combination of farming innovation with rural e-commerce, thus contributing to an integration of the three industries in rural areas.