China's Villages Go Digital

Zhan Xun

The integration of digital technology into rural areas has become a key strategy in China’s rural revitalisation and a crucial part of building a “digital China.” On October 14, 2024, the awards ceremony of the China Digital Rural Innovation Competition was held in Beijing, revealing several exciting case studies.

Yangjiayao Village, located at the foot of a mountain in Yungang District, Datong City, Shanxi Province, was once known as an “economically impoverished village.” However, in recent years, the village has harnessed digital technology to empower its local industries. Smart devices have been applied in dairy farming, milk processing, and specialty flower cultivation. Smartphones and the internet have become the “new farming tools,” and live-streaming to sell products has become the “new farm work.” This has rapidly increased the village’s prosperity and even boosted the economic development of neighbouring communities.

Established nearly a decade ago, MYbank is an internet bank and one of China’s first private banks. It developed the “Big Sparrow” satellite remote sensing risk control system to improve farmers’ access to bank loans. This technology uses satellite imagery to monitor the full growth cycle of crops grown by large-scale farmers. Data analysis is conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ Big Data Development Centre to provide reliable and traceable data for credit strategies. 

The project has built risk control models for different types of crops, such as fruits, vegetables, and tea, and now covers every province, including Tibet, Xinjiang, and Qinghai. To date, it has helped 1.78 million large-scale farmers obtain online credit loans. China Mobile’s Tibet branch has established Tibet’s first “5G Digital Rural Unified Platform” in Dingri County. This platform, built through a local team stationed in Qiongna Village, Xizong Township, offers a wide range of functions that encompass nearly every aspect of rural life, bringing convenience to the local farming and guiding communities.

In Lankao County, Henan Province, a total of 935,000 acres of high-standard farmland have been developed using next-generation information technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), and digital twin technology. This enables precision agriculture and digital management, integrating weather patterns with fertilisation and providing precise pest and disease control. 

Real-time data transmission from the fields allows immediate intervention when abnormalities are detected, significantly improving agricultural productivity and crop yields. Whereas in the past, a farmer could manage just a few hundred acres, they can now oversee up to 800 acres.

In terms of the application of digital technology in rural areas, Nepal can also strengthen its cooperation with China. The realisation of smart agriculture in Nepal could benefit from collaboration with Chinese research institutions to tailor agricultural digital technology to Nepal’s needs. It is hoped that more Nepali students will study relevant technologies in China in the future.

(The author is a professor at the School of Public Administration, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, and Deputy Director of the Pan-Himalaya Information and Communication Research Centre.)