Information and digital technologies can help revitalize the rural economy

THE CENTRAL AUTHORITIES published this year's No 1 document on Sunday, setting out policies for the revitalization of the countryside. Beijing News commented on Tuesday:

This year's No 1 document released on Sunday outlines a set of detailed measures to implement the rural revitalization strategy, which is the top-level design of solutions to key issues related to farmers, agriculture and villages in the new era.

The fast development of information and digital technologies can effectively prompt the modernization of agriculture and the countryside, and the booming of the rural economy.

For instance, the internet of things can ensure accurate monitoring and control of water temperatures to accelerate the germination of rice seeds, increasing the yield per unit of land by up to 10 percent. Meanwhile, e-commerce can shorten the distance between farmers and consumers.

To unleash the potential of e-commerce and big data in the countryside, the government should accelerate the construction of communication infrastructure in the rural areas, especially in the central and western regions, and encourage investors to engage in developing new internet-enabled agricultural projects.

Farmers should be entitled to become shareholders in agricultural production cooperatives, and countryside tourism and elderly care businesses.
Also, it is time to grant rural residents their overdue right to cooperate with their urban counterparts to build rental houses on their land reserved for house construction only, so that they can better enjoy the returns of their property rights. This will be a new type of sharing economy making good use of the countryside resources, and promoting the free flow of capital and talents between the rural and urban areas.