Brooms and the straw that unbroke a camel's back

In 2017 she joined Social Participation in Poverty Alleviation and Development of China, a government online platform aimed at helping to eradicate poverty, and she worked as an information collector among local poor people.

After Ge set up the broom-selling business she started commissioning locals to make hand-crafted brooms, and by paying them immediately she ensured that many more locals would jump on the bandwagon.

In addition to online channels, Ge also managed to open offline markets whose buy-ers included factories and waste treatment plants.

"These orders are usually really big, from 500 to 1,000 brooms a time," Ge said. "They're now our major customers."