China has 285 million rural internet users
Li Meng livestreams in a walnut farm in Danyang County, Shaanxi province on July 22.
China had about 285 million internet users living in the rural areas by June, accounting for over 30 percent of the country's total, according to a recent report on China's internet development.
The number of rural internet users in China has grown by over 30 million from March, said the report issued by the China Internet Network Information Center, noting that the urban-rural digital gap had significantly narrowed.
The report said the internet is playing a greater role in the country's poverty reduction efforts, with the public participation and awareness on the rise.
It said that as of June, online promotions of agricultural products from impoverished areas had reached more than half of the Chinese internet users, and more than one third of netizens had bought such products via online platforms.
Students of Jinzhai Hope Primary School in Jinzhai County, Anhui Province, take a computer class.
The report said the internet will help with the anti-poverty campaign by providing jobs, social security and medical service information to the poor and enabling children in poverty-stricken areas to access better education.
