A livestreaming activity to promote loquat fruits is held in Lishui, a city in East China's Zhejiang Province, on May 12, 2020. [Lishui Women's Federation]

The Women's Federation of Zhejiang Province held a series of online activities to drive the digital economy, which has become a new driving force for high-quality development in the province.

The federation took steps in selecting public ambassadors from online influencers, supporting female entrepreneurs, endorsing special products and publicizing promotion skills in rural areas.

China's first female online celebrity alliance was launched on March 11 in Hangzhou, capital city of the province, where 51 members were elected and appointed as charity ambassadors. 

The alliance's first livestreaming show featuring agricultural products sold more than 40,000 kilograms of goods, generating over 400,000 yuan (US $56,418) in sales in just one hour. 

Seventy percent of the high-performing influencers were women who play pivotal roles in driving sale and vow to take a part in public welfare activities organized by the federation.

The federation also opened a new mode of cultural tourism to stimulate its recovery. The first one-hour livestreaming show focusing on Xinchang County in Shaoxing City attracted more than 100,000 viewers. 

Bookings for the local 1,000 BNBs (Bed and Breakfast) came in great number, and 4,000 coupons were sold out in five minutes. To date, the province has carried out more than 50 BNB "cloud tours" with the help of Internet.

Many other women started business on the cloud emerged at the same time. The federation will choose 100 of them, offering platforms for them to share resources and seek cooperation. The measure was well-received by female entrepreneurs and appeals to a lot of like-minded competitors.

In addition, presidents of the women's federations across the province have taken part in live broadcasting since March. They endorsed special agricultural products to increase the income of women workers in local manufacturing industries and needy women. 

Notably, the online promotion activities are covering all rural areas to help eliminate poverty. 

"I want to be a livestreaming show host to promote handmade noodles," said Chen Yuxian, general-manager of a local cooperative in her 60s in Jinhua City. She participated in the training classes on boosting sales held by the women's federation of the city. 

At the same time, more than 100 female e-commerce representatives from the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, who were 2,000 kilometers away, received the training via video link.  

"Thanks to livestreaming, our zongzi (a type of traditional Chinese food for Dragon Boat Festival) is so popular!" said Song Jianfang who is in charge of a local food firm. In the past few days, she led rural left-behind women to pack more than 80,000 zongzi and helped farmers sell more than 1,500 kilograms of plums. 

At present, livestream promotion is in full swing in Zhejiang and the local economy is poised for recovery and prosperity. 

Online celebrities promote the loquat fruits through live broadcasting. [Lishui Women's Federation]

(Source: China Women's News/Translated and edited by Women of China)