Returnees to rural areas prosper in China: newspaper

BEIJING, June 21 (Xinhua) -- New business modes like online stores, livestreaming sales and contact-free delivery have provided new opportunities for rural entrepreneurs, with migrant workers, college graduates and military veterans among the major groups returning to the rural areas, read a report by China Daily on Monday.

China saw about 10 million people returned to its countryside to start businesses last year, a rise of 19 percent from 2019 and the biggest increase in recent years, said the newspaper citing the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

More than 19 million returnees have become employed in or near their hometowns, of whom 20 percent started work in crop cultivation and animal husbandry, while 50 percent established small factories and businesses, it added.

Moreover, as of June last year, China had built 4,849 incubators for tech businesses and 620,000 enterprises to attract talent to push innovation in the countryside and promote rural jobs, according to the newspaper.