Workers sell local farm produces through online store in Longnan,  Gansu province. (Photo/People's Daily Online)

The expansion of internet access and the booming e-commerce industry have helped China lift more people out of poverty.

Through online stores and live broadcasts, farmers from poverty-stricken regions can sell agricultural products to consumers across the country.

In August 2018, Yinguang village in southwest China’s Guizhou province held a live webcast to boost sales of potatoes. About 200,000 people watched the video, and subsequentially bought 13 tons of potatoes worth more than 100,000 yuan.

“Now, we can sell the same number of potatoes in two days as we would have been able to sell in 10 days before, and the price is higher,” said one villager.

Besides providing a platform for farmers to sell their products and for consumers to access and buy these distinctive products, the internet has also contributed to targeted poverty alleviation.

A villager surnamed Chang in a village of southwest China’s Yunnan province received aid through a free health insurance program called “Dingliangzhu” launched by the China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, Alibaba and its financial arm Ant Financial.

The program paid for Chang’s treatments not covered by the basic medical insurance offered by the local government and helped the family effectively rid themselves of poverty.

China’s population below the poverty line was reduced to 16.6 million in 2018 from 99 million in 2012. The incidence of poverty dropped from 10.2 to 1.7 percent during the same period, according to the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development.