China is further harnessing the power of e-commerce to drive seafood sales and rural incomes with the establishment of a live broadcast platform on a popular C2C web store, Taobao.
The “first national online live broadcast auction for seafood” has been opened in Lianyungang, a city in Jiangsu Province, which has a port and large freshwater cruastacean aquaculture presence.
Local government provided the premises for the online broadcast center in what was formerly a Communist Party academy and spent CNY 5 million (USD 706,500, EUR 635,100) on renovations, according to local authorities.
“Taobao villages” have become a phenomenon in rural China, with far-flung rural producers of various horticultural produce marketing their output to urban customers through Taobao, often with the encouragement of local officials, who see it as an economic development opportunity.
Taobao has assiduously courted producers with training and chat groups for vendors and special promotions aimed at consumers. Seeking to take advantage of the growing popularity of China’s online seafood markets, vendors in China’s major fishing ports including Zhoushan and Qingdao, have been live-broadcasting their fresh catches on the Taobao app, and have been interacting with buyers, including answering questions in real-time.
A similar platform has been set up in the northern city of Changchun for women’s wear, and another “Taobao live broadcasting center” for jade was recently launched in the city of Ruili, on the border with Myanmar. Taobao chose Changchun because of its skilled workforce and its proximity to Japan and Korea – major consumer markets for Chinese goods, according to Zhao Yuan Yuan, head of live broadcasting at Taobao.
Photo courtesy of Nopparat Khokthong/Shutterstock
