BEIJING, July 13 (Xinhua) --- Suning County of Cangzhou City, China's Hebei Province, located in the hinterland of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, is known as the "City of ancient Chinese scholars" with a history of cultivating 3 Number One Scholars and 36 successful candidates in the imperial examinations.
Over the past decade, Suning County has vigorously developed the e-commerce industry, promoting the upgrading of characteristic industries such as fur clothing, textile clothing, musical instrument manufacturing, and fishing tackle, which has become a new engine for the county's economic development.
In 2022, Suning County proposed the "E-commerce Brings Prosperity" strategy, aiming to build a industrial center for live-streaming e-commerce in northern China. Yang Ling, County Chief of Suning County, sharedher insights on the development of the e-commerce industry in Suning County and their "success stories in getting rich".
Reporter: As a traditional agricultural county, why did Suning County vigorously develop e-commerce?
Yang Ling: Suning County covers an area of 516 square kilometers (774,000 mu), of which cultivated land accounts for 72percent. It is a large agricultural county with light industry as its main industry, which is suitable for online sales. Solving the issues concerning agriculture, rural areas and farmers has always been a top priority for Suning County. E-commerce has the characteristics of low entry barriers, high profitability, and strong driving force for the real economy, making it very promising in the field of rural revitalization.
On the one hand, the development of e-commerce can accelerate the realization of common prosperity. To make farmers prosperous, we need to free some farmers from land. The e-commerce industry has low entry barriers, which can cultivate more "digital farmers" and enable farmers to engage in other industries to achieve prosperity without leaving their hometowns, ultimately realizing rural revitalization.
On the other hand, the development of e-commerce can promote industrial transformation and upgrading. Suning County's strategy is to "promote production through sales and promote transformation through production." Sales will inevitably lead to brand competition and quality competition during the production process. Through production, we can promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional characteristic industries, ultimately achieving prosperity in rural industries.
At the same time, Suning County has unique advantages in the development of e-commerce. First, it is located in a well-connected and advantageous transportation area, at the center of the Beijing-Tianjin-Shijiazhuang region, only 20 kilometers away from the Xiong'an New Area. It is a vital transportation hub with three railway intersections and six expressways surrounding it. Second, it has distinctive traditional industries, namely ten characteristic industries including modern agriculture, fur clothing, textile clothing, fishing tackle, musical instruments, etc. Most of them are light industries that fit well with the development of e-commerce. Third, the logistics system is well-established, with a YTO Express distribution center and a bonded logistics center. The logistics distribution system covers all levels of the county, towns, and villages, laying a solid foundation for the rapid development of e-commerce.
Based on these considerations, Suning County proposed the "E-commerce Brings Prosperity" strategy. With the strong support of the China Electronics Chamber of Commerce (CECC), the Hebei Provincial Department of Commerce, the Cangzhou Municipal People's Government, and Xinhua News Agency Hebei Branch, and after successfully hosting the 8th China Taobao Village Summit Conference and the Hebei (Suning) First E-commerce Cultural Festival, we will host the 2023 International E-commerce Ecological Expo and E-commerce Festival, aiming to showcase e-commerce achievements, gather resource elements, and promote exchanges and cooperation, to light up Suning County and Cangzhou.
Reporter: Suning County Government will host the 2023 International E-commerce Ecological Expo. Could you please introduce the specific details of this event?
Yang Ling: The 2023 International E-commerce Ecological Expo is a high-level and large-scale international e-commerce event aiming to showcase achievements, exchange experiences, promote cooperation, and build a complete and functional e-commerce ecosystem, which is expected tocontribute to the rural revitalization strategy, the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, and the deepening of modern commerce and logistics.
The event has several characteristics. First, it is highly prestigious and organized by CECC, the Hebei Provincial Department of Commerce, the Cangzhou Municipal People's Government, and Xinhua News Agency Hebei Branch. The event is co-hosted by CECC's Live Webcast & Short Video Professional Committee, Cangzhou Municipal Bureau of Commerce, and Suning County People's Government.
Second, it has a large scale and will be held both online and offline. The offline event will invite leaders at all levels, domestic and foreign industry elites, representatives from e-commerce platform institutions, supply chain, logistics, and other enterprises to participate in the exhibition and conference. It is estimated that there will be more than 300 exhibitors and a direct participation of 100,000 people offline, and an online participation of 1 million people.
Third, the event has a distinct theme, "New Era, New E-commerce, New Ecology", and it is divided into three phases: the launch season, the opening season, and the closing season. It will last for nearly six months from July to November. During this period, there will be 17 sub-events, including industry forums, e-commerce skills competitions, investment and recruitment, and live-streaming sales, providing a splendid e-commerce feast.
Reporter: "E-commerce Brings Prosperity" has been proposed in many regions across the country. What are the unique features of Suning County's strategy?
Yang Ling: In the process of deepening the "E-commerce Prosperity" strategy, Suning County has actively explored a development path that aligns with the trends of the times and its own characteristics. First, the e-commerce ecological chain is complete, with the "six elements" of "people, goods, venues, warehouses, logistics, and exhibitions", creating the pillars of e-commerce development.
In terms of talent, relying on institutions such as Alibaba, Tiktok, and the Suning E-commerce Academy of CECC, we train at least 10,000 e-commerce talents every year.
In terms of goods, Suning County has established an e-commerce supply chain product selection center, gathering high-quality supply chain resources nationwide. We have created a regional public brand called "Suxin Crafts," integrated resources of 77 regional public brands in Hebei Province, and formed the "Yanzhao Regional Public Brand Alliance".
In terms of venues, Suning County has focused on building eight e-commerce incubation bases, incubating more than 1,000 stores and account anchors, leading to a rapid increase in business volume.
In terms of cloud warehouses, we have built intelligent cloud warehouses, such as Cainiao source warehouses and Zebra cloud warehouses, which offer "one-click drop shipping" and quick response. We are also building the Suning County Live E-commerce Industrial Park, equipped with a cloud warehouse center to achieve intelligent and efficient express logistics distribution. In terms of logistics, we have introduced a YTO Express distribution center to integrate logistics resources and reduce logistics costs. We have also established a bonded logistics center to provide convenient customs clearance and export tax rebate services for the development of cross-border e-commerce.
In terms of exhibitions, we have focused on building the Suning County Science and Technology Innovation Center and the Innovation Empowerment Center, holding e-commerce exhibitions every year to boost the industry, expand markets, develop channels, and increase popularity.
Second, the development path is clear, with three distinct processes: aggregation, integration, and promotion. "Aggregation" means utilizing the advantages of Suning County to increase publicity and promotion efforts and attract high-quality resources and talents from all over the country. "Integration" means building platforms and issuing policies to facilitate the deep, systematic, and efficient integration of various elements on this platform. "Promotion" means promoting production through sales and promoting transformation through production.
E-commerce can open up sales channels for enterprises, promote the continuous improvement of the industrial chain, and upgrade the industrial structure, ultimately achieving the goal of enriching the people, revitalizing the industry, and strengthening the county.
Third, the supporting service system is complete, focusing on building a "1568" e-commerce development pattern. This includes strengthening the "1" e-commerce brain, utilizing the Suning Digital Commerce Industry Empowerment Center composed of the Science and Technology Innovation Center and the Empowerment Center as a hub for integrating e-commerce resources and a command center for industrial development.
Empowering the "5" major characteristic industries, focusing on the five major characteristic industries in Suning County, including fishing tackle, textile clothing, fur clothing, publishing and printing, and musical instruments, by building characteristic blocks, organizing special activities, and perfecting characteristic parks.
Creating "6" industrial clusters, accelerating the development of six major industrial clusters, including digital industry parks, e-commerce buildings, Feihu Live-streaming E-commerce Industrial Park, Fashion Town, Huacheng Huigu E-commerce Industrial Park, and Jianfa E-commerce Incubation Base, to promote the rapid development of enterprises.
Cultivating "8" incubators, continuously improving eight e-commerce incubators, including Botian, Zhonghui, Shangde, Zhengning, Miaoqiaomi, Super Bowl, Feihu, and Fenglei, providing comprehensive services such as technical support, practical training, entrepreneurial consultation, and supply chain docking for resident enterprises.
Reporter: What benefits has the development of the e-commerce industry brought to Suning County? Do you have any concrete examples?
Yang Ling: The rapid development of e-commerce has brought significant changes to Suning County. On the one hand, it has had a remarkable impact on employment and income growth. Suning County was the first in the country to achieve "Taobao Town" throughout the county. There are more than 40,000 registered online stores in the county, directly and indirectly providing employment opportunities for over 80,000 people. The annual e-commerce sales are expected to exceed 15 billion yuan, with a volume of 150 million orders per year, experiencing a year-on-year growth of over 50percentfor four consecutive years.
During the promotion of e-commerce, some e-commerce "leaders" have emerged. For example, Chen Lei, Party Secretary of Xiqianbo Village, has led the entire village to embrace e-commerce through his own online store. He personally invested in the construction of an e-commerce service center in Xiqianbo Village. Currently, two-thirds of the villagers are engaged in e-commerce and related industries. They sell tens of thousands of fishing rods nationwide every day, even exporting them abroad, with an annual sales volume exceeding 100 million yuan. Xiqianbo Village has been rated as the "Most Beautiful Taobao Village" by Alibaba, and Chen Lei himself has been awarded honors such as "Leading Figure in Rural Revitalization in Hebei Province" and "Advanced Worker in Beautiful Countryside Construction in Hebei Province".
On the other hand, there has been significant promotion of industrial upgrading. Various characteristic industries in the county have embraced e-commerce. The online sales rate of fishing tackle and fishing equipment is as high as 85percent, textile clothing is 80 percent and musical instrument products reach 40percent. Under the impetus of e-commerce, the industrial chain has been continuously improved, and the industrial structure has been upgraded, gradually moving towards branding, scale, and high-end development.
There is a young man in Suning County named Cui Shulong. He started his own weaving factory at the age of 17 and coincidentally got involved in e-commerce. Since then, he has embarked on the path of e-commerce entrepreneurship. From working alone to now having a team of 200 people, he owns four self-operated garmentfactories and one weaving factory. He has driven more than 30 upstream and downstream enterprises to supply goods and has established multiple independent brands. His brands have gained high recognition and reputation in the market. The annual sales volume has exceeded 100 million yuan, achieving large-scale production and brand operation. He is an example of how e-commerce promotes industrial upgrading.
Reporter: Could you please share with us Suning County's experience in the development of e-commerce?
Yang Ling: We hope to provide some references for the central and western regions with advantages in specialty product origins. Our strong foundation in characteristic industries is the backbone of the development of e-commerce. Suning County is the fur capital of China, with the largest fur raw material trading market in the country, accounting for over 70 percent of the market share. It produces more than 2 million fur clothing items annually. Suning County is also known among the country for textile clothing, producing over 1.4 billion T-shirts every year, accounting for 70 percent of the national output.
In addition, Suning is the musical instrument capital of northern China, with two well-known Chinese brands, Xinghai and Yuehai, producing dulcimer, erhu, pipa, pianos, and other traditional and Western musical instruments. The production of dulcimer accounts for 70 percent of the national output. Suning County is also the main production base for fishing tackle and fishing equipment in the country, with production accounting for more than half of the national total. These unique industrial advantages have created rare opportunities for the rise of rural e-commerce.
However, having an advantage in specialty product origins is just a necessary condition for the Suning County model. We also insist on government guidance and market-oriented operation. On the one hand, the government should encourage and guide the industry's "embrace of the internet" through policy support, infrastructure construction, and improved services. On the other hand, we need to gather resources and integrate various entities through various channels, allowing them to collide and integrate in market activities, gradually forming a complete e-commerce ecosystem.
(Contributed by Ding Yawen, Liu Taoxiong, edited by Gao Jingyan with Xinhua Silk Road, gaojingyan@xinhua.org)
A single purchase
