Beijing residents benefit from Farmers-to-Consumers

Farmers unloading cabbages from a truck in Xinfadi vegetable wholesale market in Beijing. [Photo/China Daily]

Liu Xin will be working over the Spring Festival for the first time this year, alongside his family in Beijing.

"Our business has been really good over the past year, better than I expected," he says.

Liu's operation is one of more than 300 similar vegetable delivery services in the capital, launched under a program supported by the municipal government－the Farmers-to-Consumers Vegetable Sale Service plan.

His vegetable stall and the delivery service he runs have generated 300,000 yuan ($48,387) in income for the 36-year-old since April last year.

"That's sufficient for our family to live on and much higher than when we were farming," he says.

The entrepreneur is expecting a busy time next month as people stock up on vegetables in preparation for the year's most important national holiday.

After the festival, Liu's younger brother who just graduated from a vocational technical secondary school will also come and join the family firm.

"Then we will have six family members here including my parents and my uncles," he says.

Also arriving after the festivities are over is a new electronic cash machine, to help keep tabs on his growing income, which is likely to be boosted further after he expands his range of products, he says.

"We are different from some other vegetable stalls in that we buy our vegetables direct from the city's largest agricultural products wholesale market, Xinfadi, first thing in the morning to ensure they are really fresh.

"Location is also key to us, as there is no other vegetable seller nearby to compete with us selling to people living in the residential blocks nearby," he says. His delivery orders are also growing fast.

"I've opened an account on WeChat, so people can place orders, and we can deliver those whenever they want, straight to their doors," he says.

"Our customer base is relatively stable so we can get to know people's favorite products, which helps with our planning of how much to buy. We have become friends with many of our customers."

The Farmers-to-Consumers scheme, says an official from Beijing Fengtai district government who declined to be named, has helped launch many small businesses across the city, creating both jobs and a valuable service for local residents.

Its purpose, he says, is simple: to provide cheap fresh vegetables direct to residential areas without the need for intermediate wholesalers.

The Agricultural Bank of China and other local community banks provide micro loans for rural migrant workers like Liu who apply to take part in the delivery program.

They can use the loans to buy delivery vans, for instance, and the government also offers business advice.

Last year consumer prices increased about 2 percent year-on-year, down from 2.6 percent in 2013, and also well below the government's annual target of 3.5 percent.

Officials say that with the help of the Beijing vegetable plan, and others like it being launched nationally, food prices can be maintained at affordable levels.