Bottom-Up Approach with Global Powerhouse: Suichang Model

Abstract

Since 2010, a tripartite alliance (Suichang E-commerce Association including Suichang E-commerce Co., Ltd . and Ganjie Ltd. at Suichang) worked with local governments and service providers to explore a path of rural e-commerce development. As city environments rapidly deteriorated and food safety became an increasing concern, city dwellers began to aspire towards the qualities of an idyllic life: having access to untainted nature, clean water, as well as the opportunity to plant their own food. Their demand grew increasingly urgent as seen in the incident of dead pigs floating on the Huang Pu River in Shanghai directly leading to the conceptualization of Suichang Farm Pig brand by Taobao, Sui Chang E-commerce Corporation, and local government. Excess production capacity had led to a halt in the urbanizing process. Meanwhile, the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the Internet has accelerated the upgrade of rural and urban SMEs. Information transparency and efficient market regulation brought by the Internet reduced transaction cost, which offer a promising comeback for the downturn economy in China. Thousands of households began to start up new business online. As the rural to urban (“upstream”) of agricultural products and the urban to rural (“downstream”) of industrial products, rural infrastructure and commercial facilities are being built up. This provided a way in which urban-rural integration could be achieved in the future, both keeping the rural environment intact and renew the way of organization of the rural population.