Brooms and the straw that unbroke a camel's back

Gao Xizeng, the village's Party chief, said that thanks to the broom industry, more than 500 people in the village and surrounding villages have planted more than 120 hectares of broom straw and can make 10 million yuan from the plantation every year.

In the first half of last year the business was badly bit by COVID-19 and Ge reached out to local radio stations to help get the business moving again. By September all inventory had been cleared and, despite the hard times, the broom factory had turn-over of 5 million yuan for the year.

Her internet expertise has also helped villagers gain access to social services through her starting to connect villagers to a government grassroots service platform in 2019.

"With the help of the internet villagers don't need to go to government departments in the town and I can help them do things, such as medical health insurance and finan-cial help for the elderly," Ge said.

By the end of 2019 all the villagers were covered by health insurance.

The Hunan provincial Party chief, Du Jiahao, said Ge's efforts in the village's broom industry and on the service platform have played a significant role in rural revitalization at a meeting with representatives from grassroots poverty alleviation staff in November.