Alibaba making Taobao villages to help China’s rural population
Taobao, the popular Chinese online retail platform, has become more important to rural economies across China due to an emerging phenomenon called “Taobao villages”.
The popularity of “Taobao Villages” is increasing in China. This trend consists in village residents who sell their handicrafts and products via online. According to Alibaba, Taobao village is any place where 10% of the population is engaged in online retailing.
The e-commerce has grown in rural China in 2014, with the number of “Taobao Villages” increasing over tenfold in comparison with 2013. At the end of last year the number of “Taobao Villages” reached 211 while in 2013 there were only 20.
Almost half of China’s demography resides in agrarian regions and nowadays, e-commerce has an important potential to boost ec...