As e-commerce blossoms, flower business takes root
Liu Youjuan processes fresh golden chrysanthemums in her factory in Macheng, Hubei province. [Photo provided to China Daily]
Internet creates new entrepreneurs, including people in poor rural areas
As the chrysanthemums blossom, so does Liu Youjuan's business－an undertaking whose seeds had not even been planted four years ago.
The soil in which those seeds eventually found root was e-commerce. In the past few years it has turned millions of Chinese who previously lacked business experience into successful entrepreneurs.
Liu, 39, has been growing and selling golden chrysanthemums in Fugang village of Tiemengang township in Macheng since 2015. Two years ago she struck pay dirt by selling golden chrysanthemum tea online.
"E-commerce is an incredibly cost-effective way of running a business," Liu said. "It has increased my income by enabling me to sell chrysanthemum products nationwide with little travel."
Millions of other e-commerce businesses throughout China are reaping the rewards of a model that links buyers and sellers directly, with billions of transactions and oceans of money each year.
It's part of the central government's innovation-centered strategy to eradicate poverty, and one that encourages poor families to help pull themselves out of poverty by using the latest technology.
The plan is paying huge dividends, not only improving the lives of millions of Chinese, but also helping to revitalize rural areas.
Liu was a migrant worker before quitting her job and returning to her hometown to take care of her ailing parents-in-law in 2015, a shift that left her with no income. About the time of her move she resolved to pull herself out of poverty by growing golden chrysanthemums in the village.
Her flower fields expanded to 4 hectares in 2016, and she developed a modest customer base. But she felt that she needed more. It was then that she enlisted the help of the local government.
"Government officials said that if I was interested in selling my flowers online they would give me the necessary training," Liu said.
To help set up the business, she obtained a loan of 50,000 yuan ($7,400) in September 2017.
Liu created her own brand of products made with flowers and set up online stores on Taobao and WeChat, as well as on a local e-commerce platform. She now provides products to four other online stores and plans to open a store on the social e-commerce platform Pinduoduo in April.
Her chrysanthemum products can now be found in homes and workplaces across the country.
Liu eventually shifted her focus from trading dry flowers to selling golden chrysanthemum tea.
"After two years exploring e-business, I understood how to improve products, and selling processed products increased the value of the flowers," she said.
Liu now has 20 hectares of chrysanthemum fields in Fugang and said sales exceeded 2 million yuan last year, with 80 percent online. Her growing income allowed her to buy a new house with an adjoining factory.
Knowing that others in her village were less fortunate, Liu provided jobs. She said she now has people from 15 poor households working for her, and each household earns additional income of 4,000 to 5,000 yuan annually.
"I was part of the impoverished group, and most of my employees are the elderly who were left behind in rural areas. So I feel it is my duty to help them," she said.
Xia Xigui, who has worked for Liu for two years, said she can earn more than 10,000 yuan a year.
"Liu is very capable, and her way of doing business is a very creative approach in rural areas," Xia said.
By the end of next year, China aims to have completed lifting 55 million rural people out of poverty and to have given half the country's poor villages the wherewithal to use e-commerce.
Macheng was listed as a national rural e-commerce pilot county in 2015. The local government has adopted policies promoting the new form of business, and continues to explore ways to reduce poverty through e-business.
It has built 414 e-commerce service stations in the 452 villages in the city, 159 of them in poor villages serving 6,335 impoverished households.
Officials said the city has provided e-commerce training for 16,000 people.
"The major task is to extend e-commerce thinking and consumption habits to rural areas and change the way they look at business," said Liu Hongli, director of the e-commerce office in Macheng.
译文
随着电子商务的蓬勃发展，鲜花生意生根发芽
通讯员：周瑾 | 中国日报 | 报道时间：2019-02-12 07:50
刘幼娟在她位于湖北麻城的工厂加工鲜金菊。[中国日报提供的照片]
互联网创造了新的企业家，包括贫穷农村地区的人们
菊花开了，刘幼娟的事业也开了花，四年前还没有播下种子。
这些种子最终在其中找到根的土壤是电子商务。在过去的几年里，它已经让数百万以前缺乏商业经验的中国人变成了成功的企业家。
今年39岁的刘自2015年以来--直在麻城铁门岗乡富岗村种植和销售金菊花。两年前，她在网上卖金菊花茶，赚了大钱。
“电子商务是一种难以置信的成本效益的经营方式，”刘说。“它使我能够在全国范围内销售菊花产品而几乎不需要旅行，从而增加了我的收入。
中国各地还有数以百万计的其他电子商务企业正在从一种模式中获得回报，这种模式每年将买家和卖家直接联系在一起，每年有数十亿笔交易和巨额资金。
这是中央政府以创新为中心的消除贫困战略的一部分，它鼓励贫困家庭利用最新技术帮助自己摆脱贫困。
该计划正在产生巨大的收益，不仅改善了数百万中国人的生活，而且还有助于振兴农村地区。
刘女士在辞职前是一名农民工，2015年回到家乡照顾生病的公婆，这一转变让她失去了收入。大约在她搬家的时候，她决定在村里种上金菊花，使自己摆脱贫困。
2016年，她的花田扩大到了4公顷，并建立了一个适度的客户基础。但她觉得她需要更多。就在那时，她得到了当地政府的帮助。
“麻城电商办负责人刘宏利说，如果我有兴趣在网上销售我的鲜花，他们会给我必要的培训，”刘说。
为了帮助创办这家公司，她在2017年9月获得了人民币50,000元 (7400美元) 的贷款。
刘幼娟创造了自己的花卉品牌产品，并在淘宝和微信上开设了网店，还在当地的电子商务平台_上开设了网店。她现在为其他四家在线商店提供产品，并计划在4月份在社交电子商务平台拼多多(Pinduoduo).上开一 家商店。
她的菊花产品现在可以在全国各地的家庭和工作场所找到。
刘幼娟最终将注意力从干花交易转移到了卖金菊花茶。
她说:“在探索了两年的电子商务之后，我明白了如何改进产品，销售加工过的产品提高了花卉的价值。”
现在总共有20公顷菊花田，去年销售额超过200万元，其中80%在网上销售。她不断增长的收入使她得以在邻近的工厂买了一幢新房子。
现在她的村子里的其他人没那么幸运了，刘女士提供了工作。她说，她现在有来自15个贫困家庭的人为她工作，每个家庭每年的收入增加4万5千美元。
“我的大多数员工是留守农村的老人，属于贫困阶层。所以觉得我的责任是帮助他们”她说。
在刘女士工作了两年的夏喜贵(音译)说，她一年可以挣10000元以上。
“刘非常能干，她做生意的方式非常有创意”夏说。
到明年年底，中国的目标是完成5500万农村贫困人口的脱贫工作，并为全国半数贫困村提供了使用电子商务的必要资源。
麻城被列为2015年全国农村电子商务试点县。地方政府已经采取了促进新型商业的政策，并继续探索通过电子商务减少贫困的途径。
已建成414个电子商务服务站的452个村，159个贫困村，服务于6335户贫困家庭。
相关负责人说，该市为1.6万人提供了电商培训。
“主要任务是将电子商务的思维和消费习惯扩展到农村地区，并改变他们看待商业的方式，”麻城电子商务办公室主任刘宏利说。
