Rural vitalization: Live and empowering

Today, Chen has more than 20,300 followers on Douyin, and the village has developed an effective sales and production cycle. It has also built a livestreaming base where villagers get 15 yuan per hour from packing and shipping work.

Over 330 livestreams throughout the year have linked the small village with outside markets and have reconnected villagers who had left home. Primary agricultural products have been developed into branded goods and cultural tourism items with increased value.

"When I returned to Beishan years ago, what I wanted to see most was young people serving their parents tea and tutoring their children at home," Chen said. "That dream is slowly becoming a reality."

Ding Jun, 42, deputy village Party secretary of Hehua in Mingguang, Anhui province, has transformed a small livestreaming room from an initial sales platform into a policy briefing platform to serve the community.

"I started livestreaming in October 2024, when my intention was to help villagers sell local agricultural produce such as gorgon fruit and water chestnuts," he said. "However, as my program began, the most frequently asked questions were about healthcare, pensions, social assistance and homestead issues."

Ding immediately readjusted his focus, interpreting official documents for villagers and breaking down complex procedures into simple steps.

"It is not an easy task, as I first need to thoroughly understand the relevant information," he said."The most challenging part is when many followers from other places ask me about their local livelihood policies."

To help these people, Ding jots down their questions, seeks details from relevant local departments and then shares the information during his next livestreaming session.

He has held over 300 livestreaming sessions to date, attracting 34,000 followers, with the total number of views exceeding 1.6 million. He has also mediated disputes and gathered public opinion on various local issues.

Hehua village is a microcosm of Mingguang. Since 2024, the city has organized village cadres and Party members to enter livestreaming rooms and bring their lectures to the fields. Using local dialects, they explain in a familiar way policies that benefit farmers.