Young officials, scholars, and entrepreneurs from Global South countries shared their reflections on Chinese achievements in agricultural e-commerce during a training program in North China from June 30–July 13: “E-commerce has opened the door for smallholder farmers to enter the global market.” “It has empowered traditional agriculture by helping farmers reach broader markets and providing data to support agricultural production.” “E-commerce has transformed rural life.”  

Representatives from Global South countries, including Thailand, Bulgaria, Rwanda and others, attended courses as part of the Global South Training Program on Agricultural E-commerce Development, which was organized by the Foreign Economic Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. The courses focused on agricultural e-commerce, e-commerce-enabled poverty alleviation, branding of specialty agricultural products, and digital rural development. During the program, attendees visited internet companies in Beijing, gaining firsthand experience of e-commerce live-streaming practices. They also traveled to Shaanxi Province to learn from China’s experience in e-commerce incubation, e-commerce for agricultural development, and the integrated development of agriculture, culture, and tourism. In Shaanxi, they visited Qinchuangyuan, Chang’an Tang Village, the Wugong County E-Commerce Center, and the Yangling Agricultural Hi-tech Industrial Demonstration Zone.  

“E-commerce turns distance into an opportunity, breaking down barriers and creating connections,” said Moseley David Ricardo from Barbados. He said the training program gave him firsthand insight into China’s successful agricultural e-commerce practices and helped him identify opportunities to adapt these models to his own country.  

Sherpa Dolma Kumari, representing an innovation company in Nepal, said the program helped her realize that young people and women are key to the future of agricultural development and should be encouraged to contribute to agricultural development by leveraging new technologies. She added that harnessing the power of technology requires joint efforts from governments, research institutions, enterprises, and farmers. 

“We all hope for better lives for farmers in our countries and continued prosperity for our communities. Most importantly, we all aspire to friendship and peace,” Sherpa Dolma Kumari said.  

“This training program is only a beginning—a starting point for long-term friendship and cooperation, as well as for continued learning from China’s experience in agricultural e-commerce development,” said Iraqi participant Ibrahim Abdulrahman Mustafa.