Livestreaming boosts rural vitalization in Rudong

A livestreaming event was recently held in Sunzhuang village in Yuanzhuang town, Rudong county, which is administered by Nantong in East China's Jiangsu province, to promote its premium agricultural product – cherry tomatoes.

The four-hour livestreaming event attracted over 9,000 viewers and received more than 300,000 likes. Cao Xiaochun, deputy director of Yuanzhuang town, endorsed the product during the livestreaming session.

In recent years, Sunzhuang village has continuously made efforts to explore new agricultural development modes, and expand its collective economy. It invested over 1 million yuan ($149,287) to build five daylight greenhouses, three of which were used to grow cherry tomatoes.

To improve the quality of the tomatoes, Sunzhuang village employed technicians from Shouguang, a major vegetable growing area in East China's Shandong province.

At present, the first 5 mu (about 3,333 square meters) of cherry tomatoes will be on offer soon. The annual yield is expected to reach 37.5 metric tons, with a net profit of over 500,000 yuan.

In terms of future development, Tian Linlin, secretary of Sunzhuang village Party branch has a clear plan. "We aim to build the cherry tomato industry into a pillar sector," Tian said. "We plan to add 3 million yuan in investment to build the second phase of daylight greenhouses which cover an area of 20 mu."