CHEN Qiangyuan, YIN Shang: Digital New Farmers Boost Agricultural Modernization

As we embark on a new journey toward the Second Centenary Goal, comprehensively advancing rural revitalization and accelerating agricultural and rural modernization represent major issues of overall significance. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the rapid development of rural digital infrastructure and the integration of digital platforms have given rise to a group of digital farmers who understand digital technologies, are passionate about agriculture, master modern technologies, and excel in business operations. This has spurred the emergence of new business models in rural industries, unlocking the code for rural industrial revitalization in the digital era. Specifically, digital new farmers contribute to rural industrial development in the following aspects.

First, they address the challenge of small-scale production of agricultural products. On one hand, they enable agricultural products that are difficult to mass-produce to find buyers through precise user matching and the long-tail effect. On the other hand, digital new farmers can transform agricultural production and processing activities as well as production relationships by leveraging real demand data and centralized orders.

Second, digital platforms leverage their core algorithmic strengths and massive data to push personalized content based on consumer profiles, thereby enhancing supply-demand matching efficiency.

Third, they enhance quality trust in agricultural products. Most digital new farmers are live streamers focused on agriculture, rural areas, and farmers. They have transitioned from content grid and interest value creation in early stages to livestreaming e-commerce in later stages, possessing substantial fan bases with strong user stickiness.

Digital new farmers have not only addressed the challenge of rural hollowing-out ("decline of industry, villages and population"), but also explored a path to agricultural and rural modernization with Chinese characteristics, offering an important reference for global rural transformation.

(The above content is excerpted and translated from an article titled "Digital New Farmers Boost Rural Industrial Revitalization" by CHEN Qiangyuan, Associate Professor at the National Academy of Development and Strategy, and YIN Shang, Ph.D. Candidate at School of Applied Economics, Renmin University of China, published on Guangming Online.)

Linkage: https://share.gmw.cn/economy/2025-06/04/content_38070100.htm