Villagers embrace e-shopping, help stoke consumption upgrade amid rising retail wave

"Made in Xiongan" - with that phrase printed on his product labels, villager Wang Ermeng, 33, has carved an e-niche for his wares, attracting an increasing number of online shoppers, and confirming the tremendous growth potential in China's rural e-commerce.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, online retail sales soared to 1.37 trillion yuan ($205 billion) in rural areas last year, up more than 30 percent year-on-year.

The emerging sector is projected to see a heady 39-percent compound annual growth rate in the five-year period beginning 2017 to reach 2.33 trillion yuan in 2021, according to Shenzhen-based consultancy OCN.

That would be almost 13 percent of the total 17.8 trillion yuan of all e-commerce in China in 2021, according to London-based consultancy eMarketer.

Small wonder, not far from Wang's base, Chinese lawmakers and top political advisers gathered earlier this month in Beijing for their annual two sessions, and promptly underlined the big role rural e-commerce can play in driving domestic consumption-led economic growth.

They called for strong measures to support rural e-commerce. That was music to Wang's ears. Like them, he and his fellow villagers in Xiongan New Area, who have embraced e-commerce in recent times, see great prospects for the sector.

"E-commerce has developed rapidly in Xiongan while some traditional manufacturing businesses have stopped or moved out due to pollution or because their low-end produce is no longer a priority in the new area," said Wang, a native of Wangjiazhai in Anxin county, Hebei province.