Major e-commerce platforms in China recently strengthened their promotion of specialties and food, such as crayfish and hot noodles with sesame paste, in Hubei province, the former epicenter of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, as part of the efforts to promote the economic recovery of the province.

An e-commerce company livestreams how the fruits are packed in Zigui, Hubei province. (Photo/Xinhua)

On Taobao, an online Chinese shopping website, after entering a few key words consumers can be directed into a special zone to help Hubei farmers, where there are over 20,000 types of local agricultural products. Taobao announced that it will hold more than 100 promotional activities for Hubei agricultural goods between April and June.

Live streaming has also been fully utilized to boost sales of agricultural products in the province, along with the help of news anchors, Internet celebrities, mayors and county magistrates in Hubei offering their endorsement of local goods.

Douyin, China’s popular short-video platform and app, plans to carry out 13 live streaming activities to stimulate the sales of local agricultural products, food, and consumer goods in Hubei.

"In the past 70 days, more than 18 million people have posted videos to cheer for Hubei and Wuhan on Douyin. Now, we hope to take more practical actions to do something for the optimistic, positive and brave people of Hubei and help accelerate the economic recovery of Hubei, " said Zhang Nan, chief executive of Douyin.

Data shows as of April 17, major e-commerce platforms sold a total of 796,000 tons of agricultural products in Hubei province and facilitated 12.8 million online transactions.

"Alibaba is willing to give full play to its advantages in digital technology and commerce, integrating the capabilities of the whole platform to help Wuhan (capital of Hubei) in epidemic prevention and control, economic recovery and enterprise services, and promote the overall recovery of consumption, manufacturing, domestic and foreign trade as soon as possible," said Zhang Yong , chairman and CEO of Alibaba Group, Chinese multinational technology company.