Zhanjiang marries agriculture to e-commerce

Agricultural e-commerce is budding in Xuwen county of Zhanjiang city, Guangdong province, a county known for pineapples and pearls, thanks to local incubator.

Xuwen government offers free office space for three years, a 100,000 yuan subsidized loan and one-stop services to startups, reported Zhanjiang Daily, as the county steps up its support to mass entrepreneurship.

The Xuwen Youth Internet Innovation Park has ushered in 100 startup teams since it was launched on July 6, according to the newspaper.

The park, first of its kind in Zhanjiang, aims at incubating e-commerce platforms that will send fruit and seafood from China's south end to all over the world.

One in every three pineapples, 10 bananas and 18 shrimps in China is from Xuwen. The county also produces 30 percent of pearls and is known for its villagers' longevity, according to Zhanjiang Daily.

It's natural for the county to call for e-commerce to help revamp traditional distribution channels and adapt to new shopping habits, said Chen Guangli, member of the standing committee of Xuwen.

Limited information technology and distribution channels as well as lack of branding marketing had plagued agricultural development for year, reported the local newspaper.

The Youth Internet Innovation Park consists of a 2,100-square-meters agricultural trading area that accommodates 100 startup teams and a 1,600-square-meters cross-border e-commerce center that can contain 60 firms.

Xuwen officials expect the full-equipped park to lure a total of 2,000 talents to set up their e-commerce platforms over the next few years, according to the newspaper.

Of 700 exhibitors at Guangzhou Internet forum held in April, 168 applied to work at the Youth Innovation Park, said Mo Guangyi, Xuwen's representative of its Guangzhou-based office, to Zhanjiang Daily.

"The interest reflects those talents' expectation on the government-led startup platform as well as on the huge potentials of distinctive agricultural and seafood products," said Mo.