Measures implemented across China to support rural startups, in order to promote rural revitalization, have begun to yield positive results, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Supported by policy incentives, more migrant workers and college students have chosen to start businesses in rural areas in recent years. They enable more resources, including talent, technology and capital, to flow to rural areas, thus injecting new impetus into the development of agriculture and rural areas in general.

Online sales in rural areas exceeded 1.3 trillion yuan in 2018, creating jobs for 28 million farmers, ministry spokesman Guang Defu said, adding that leisure agriculture and rural tourism accounted for 3 billion trips, generating revenue of 800 billion yuan for rural areas.

Migrant workers and college students moving back to the countryside also create more channels for rural residents to increase their income. Thanks to entities established by returning entrepreneurs, operating income of farmers increased by an average of 67 percent in 2018. These entities also returned or distributed an average profit of over 500 yuan to farmers in the same year.

Rural entrepreneurship and innovation have become the primary contributors to China’s rural revitalization in the new era, Guang added.