Post-90s 'village CEOs' making big difference in modernization, revitalization of China's rural areas

Wang Lingli grew up hearing her father say she would have to live a hard life being tied up in toilsome farm work if she didn't study hard. Now, she actually works in the fields, but her father is not disappointed at all.

Before she returned to her hometown after graduating from college, her father even told the entire village that his daughter was coming back to farm.

Wang is not doing farm work in the traditional way. As a professional agricultural manager of a specialized farmers' cooperative in a village in Chongzhou city, southwest China's Sichuan Province, she has significantly mechanized and adopted smarter agricultural production by introducing machinery and intelligent systems.

Wang Lingli checks the growth of the rice in the field. (File photo)

Since she returned to her hometown and became an agricultural manager in 2015, Wang has shown her fellow villagers how agricultural mechanization can significantly improve the efficiency of farm work.

At her suggestion, the cooperative she works for has introduced rice transplanters and other types of agricultural machinery, built a drying and storage center, and even installed the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System on transplanters for precision planting.

Her cooperative is also in charge of the management of several other cooperatives, taking care of a total of 6,500 mu (433.33 hectares) of farmlands.

"When I decided to engage in farming, I didn't intend to put on an act for others to see. I knew I can only reap fruits when I make efforts in a down-to-earth way. And I have gradually found my self-worth while working in the fields. I feel I'm doing something really meaningful," Wang said.

Wang is one of the young Chinese who have chosen to become agricultural managers, a new profession officially recognized by Chinese authorities, including the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security in 2019.

In recent years, more and more young people born in the 1990s have joined the profession, which is also aptly referred to as "village CEO" and "family farm owner.”

These tech-savvy and business-minded "village CEOs" have injected fresh impetus into rural revitalization, while boosting the income of rural residents.

Zhuang Yuan is a young "village CEO" in Shangying village, Dongbaihu township, Zhuji city, east China's Zhejiang Province. She has set up a company and a team in the village, selling over 60 million yuan ($8.45 million) worth of unsold agricultural and sideline products for more than 300 local agricultural cooperatives and households in the past three years.

Leveraging new media platforms, especially livestream platforms, Zhuang and her team have effectively promoted the sales of local specialties, such as Chinese torreya nuts, sweet potatoes, rice, and oranges.

In addition to promoting local products through livestreams, the team has also designed one-day study tours of different villages depending on their respective conditions. During such tours, teenagers and their parents can take part in volunteer services, including helping at public-interest canteens, delivering food for the elderly, and performing at shows, as well as learning about fruits, flowers and Chinese medicinal herbs at local production bases.

"We have developed more than 20 routes for our study tours this year. They are popular among families," Zhuang said, adding that visitors help increase farmers' income.

In San'erwu village, Changning township, Xunwu county, east China's Jiangxi Province, post-90s "village CEO" Wang Jing has significantly boosted the sales and visibility of local passion fruits through an innovative model that allows consumers to virtually "foster" passion fruit trees and "watch" them grow.

"People who 'foster' passion fruit trees not only 'accompany' the growth of their passion fruit trees, but also give their trees to friends as an electronic gift," Wang said, adding that the marketing model empowered by digital technologies also helps spice up people's social life.

Thanks to the innovative marketing model, passion fruits of San'erwu village were sold to 28 provinces across China during a three-month fostering period, and the village has become more widely recognized.

Seeing that some internet users who "fostered" passion fruit trees couldn't wait to see the fruits until they are ripe and have come to the local production bases to check out their trees personally, Wang came up with the idea of developing an agritainment business at the foot of the hills where passion fruit production bases are located.

So far, a new tourist experience base featuring agritainment restaurants and immersive experience activities has taken shape in San'erwu village. Visitors will be able to experience farm work and enjoy local food at the base, according to Wang, who added that more immersive experiences will be offered to visitors.

Professional agricultural managers are very helpful in solving the problems of "who farms the land" and "how to increase the income of farmers" that face the development of China's agriculture sector and rural areas, said Gao Ming, an official at the rural economy research center of China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.