The China International Electronic Commerce Center and Meituan, an online goods delivery app, recently launched a training course in Beijing to train 80 people from different provinces to play a major role in revitalizing the commerce industry in rural areas. In the coming three years, the program will train 30,000 village Party secretaries, professional managers of rural e-commerce enterprises, e-commerce enterprise operators, and county-based life service providers for free.

In recent years, thanks to the popularization of the internet, big data, 5G and other information technologies, the e-commerce industry has seen rapid development in rural areas, helping promote the sale of agricultural products and alleviate poverty. E-commerce is also expected to help promote rural industrial upgrading and rural revitalization.

However, it is not possible to develop rural e-commerce without the help of talents. According to a report published by the China Agricultural University, most rural e-commerce talents have just basic education, and the talent gap will rise to 3.5 million in the next five years. Therefore, accelerating the cultivation of rural e-commerce talents is becoming necessary.

In February, the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, China's Cabinet, issued a guideline document, saying the key to rural revitalization lies in nurturing rural talents. It stressed the importance of cultivating rural entrepreneurship and innovation leaders and continuously improving rural entrepreneurship and innovation ecology. The document also asked for accelerating the establishment of training centers for nurturing rural e-commerce talents.

The training program jointly launched by the CIECC and Meituan will help rural e-commerce leaders promote rural entrepreneurship and innovation. Such training programs will help rural labor forces become skilled e-commerce talents and obtain opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship and rise in incomes. Also, with the increase in supply of high-quality skilled personnel such as e-commerce leaders, more e-commerce enterprises will strike roots in the countryside, which while expanding employment will expand the market for more agricultural products and strengthen the rural economy.

To strengthen the cultivation of leading e-commerce personnel in rural areas, government departments, professional institutions and e-commerce platforms should give play to their respective advantages. The central finance should provide fund support for the cultivation of entrepreneurial leaders for rural e-commerce, and the e-commerce platforms should better play their role in optimizing the allocation of resources and develop into a market force for the cultivation of such talents.