Dahua explores consumer-driven poverty alleviation

In recent years, Dahua Yao autonomous county has actively explored new ways to promote consumer-driven poverty alleviation, as well as increase the production and income of impoverished residents.

The county has built a cold chain logistics system for fresh agricultural products, collecting and storing agricultural products with high characteristics during peak periods to stabilize and regulate the market, as well as promote the sustainable development of poverty alleviation industries.

It has established a government procurement mechanism. Since 2017, the county has promoted the joint purchase of poverty-alleviation agricultural products by government departments, enterprises, schools, and hospitals to ensure increasing income for impoverished residents.

The effective connection between poverty-alleviation products and market demands has been strengthened. The Dahua Party committee and government have set up a leading group to conduct promotion and marketing in major and mid-tier cities in and outside of Guangxi to open up markets for them.

Dahua has also focused on the deep processing of agricultural products and building high-end brands. With the government’s guidance and assistance, processing plants have been successfully established and two eco-food ingredients brands have been created.

Gourmet towns and gourmet streets have been built to revitalize the nighttime market economy, as well as to promote the integrated development of the agriculture, catering, and tourism industries. At present, the county has 1,688 restaurants, an increase of 928 from 2015. In 2019, Dahua received 2,775,900 domestic and foreign tourists, an increase of 33.31 percent year-on-year, while its total tourism consumption was 3.49 billion yuan ($493.2 million), an increase of 35.92 percent year-on-year.

In addition, the county has developed e-commerce platforms, establishing e-commerce logistics service sites in 16 townships and 78 villages. Last year, the county's online retail sales were 11.24 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 22.35 percent.