E-commerce offers hope to vulnerable groups

Many disabled residents in Huichang county, Jiangxi province have seen significant improvements in their quality of life — some earn millions while others secure stable jobs and start families. This progress can all be traced back to the efforts of one official.

In 2005, Wen Dongming, a commerce bureau official who knew that his hometown relatives struggled to sell their high-quality, low-priced navel oranges, decided to open a Taobao store to supplement their income. His first attempt was a resounding success and the oranges sold out, according to Wen.

"I felt relieved and proud at the time," Wen said. He then began helping more people sell their oranges online.

Noticing similar issues across the county, Wen reported to his leader and advocated for promoting the e-commerce industry in Huichang. As a result, he was assigned to manage this sector and became an official in the e-commerce office, according to Wen.

Wen and his team put in a lot of effort to promote online agricultural product sales, such as establishing spots for courier collection in villages to improve logistics efficiency and starting e-commerce talent training, said Wen.

To date, they have trained over 20,000 people through county-run courses and collaborations, with over 12,000 engaged in e-commerce-related work, according to Wen.

One day, Wen learned about Lan Shiyong, a disabled resident of Huichang struggling to run his Taobao store. Lan, a young man with polio at only 1.2 meters tall, grew up in a fragmented family where his father had poor eyesight and speech difficulties and his mother also suffered from polio, said Wen.

"His circumstances were very difficult. He needed to prop up an antenna outside to get the internet signal because his home was in a rural area, far from town, so I brought him to our e-commerce incubator center," Wen recalled.

Providing a bed and board, Wen and the office also offered Lan extensive e-commerce training, computers and internet supply, connected him with local suppliers to buy goods at cost and gave him financial support of 12,800 yuan ($1,750), all free of charge, said Wen.

Lan's business continued to grow."Seeing his daily income grow from 100 yuan or 200 yuan to sometimes over 1,000 yuan made me relieved,"Wen said.

As his business flourished, Lan met his beloved, got married, and had children, becoming a role model among the disabled youth in Huichang, according to Wen.

In 2019, due to Lan's e-commerce success and employment aspirations, Wen recommended him for a position at a township civil affairs office. Impressed by his diligence and capabilities, the township hired him as an office clerk, marking a new chapter in his life, Wen recalled.

"Witnessing our efforts lead more vulnerable groups to better lives fills me with happiness and motivates me to drive more similar projects,"Wen said.

Another disadvantaged person Wen helped is Wu Weiyue, who faced numerous adversities, including dropping out of school, losing close family members, and surviving a devastating fire that left his family destitute. But now, his annual sales have reached three to four million yuan, according to Wen.

"A childhood friend suggested I try e-commerce because it allows me to work from home and avoid facing others if I don't want them to see my fire scars," Wu says, quoted by the China News Service.

After teaching himself the basics, Wu set up a Taobao store, but the income barely covered his basic needs, according to Wen.

With Wen's assistance, Wu participated in numerous e-commerce training sessions organized by the e-commerce office. "In 2019 alone, his sales exceeded 10 million yuan," Wen noted.

Through the e-commerce office's support, Wu transformed from a disabled person living in poverty to an e-commerce entrepreneur, hiring many impoverished individuals, according to Wen.

"Seeing people with disabilities realize their self-worth through e-commerce entrepreneurship and integrate into the broader socioeconomic cycle, I deeply feel the social value of my work. It conveys care and support, striving to ensure that everyone, including those with disabilities, can find their place and exert their strength in society," Wen said.

"Such a sense of value motivates me to continue supporting vulnerable groups in the future," Wen noted.

To this end, Wen and the office formulated, then implemented three types of e-commerce support policies for people with disabilities.

For those with some education like Lan Shiyong, the office offers entrepreneurial support through incubators and e-commerce centers, including free venues, lodging and assistance with sales issues.

For those with lower education levels in rural areas, the office provides training in basic skills like video producing, teaching them how to leverage networks to sell agricultural products and providing promotion of their online shops to increase their incomes.

For others unable to perform a full-time job, the office introduces Taobao customer service positions, helping them work a home-based part-time job.