Written by: Xinhua News Agency
Posted on: June 11, 2018 | 
| 中文
Walnut harvest in Kuqa, Xinjiang
Peeling off the walnuts’ skin with his left hand, Kebir Tumi carries on bargaining with other traders using his right hand. To Abdulrehman and his younger brother, their father was such a capable man, even when they were young.
Kebir sells various things: cement, flour, crops and edible oil, and so on, but whatever the goods may be, he can always find a place at the local bazaar. He has made a comfortable life for his family, plus 10 mu area of full-bearing walnut trees.
In 2010, led by Kebir, a Walnut Cooperative was set up in Akwustang Township, Kuqa County, South Xinjiang. Kebir and his fellow villagers finally entered the era of e-commerce.
A workshop was set up with an automatic peeling-line so that the high-quality walnuts could be sold with proper packaging. Soon, their products won attention from e-commerce traders, and 90% of their walnuts were sold in this way.
They do not have to sell their walnuts at a local bazaar while yelling, seated in the scorching sunlight, sweating as they did in the past. The farmers sell their home-produced walnuts to inland China markets via the internet; the enthusiasm for growing walnuts trees has been fully aroused.
But after frequently dealing with businessmen from inland China, Kebir felt that he was too slow: he went to school for only 9 years with no professional knowledge and skills, but gained experience through practice. This would definitely restrain him from further developing his business.
“I’m almost in my 50s, but that’s not a big deal. There are some guys even older than me in the class.” Kebir started learning about business at training centers and got what he needed. “As long as you study hard, there is nothing that cannot be learnt. Nothing can stop people with dreams, right?” His wife, Amangul Islam, has never travelling far from home, supporting Kebir fully.
Two years ago, Kebir started to take his two sons to the training classes, introducing them to business management and e-commerce. “Kids will learn from whatever their father does, so I need to be a good model.”
“From the training courses, my brother and I came to understand that E-commerce is the future of industrial development. He even visited the Alibaba headquarter in Hangzhou, for the latest trends and information. B updating our knowledge and searching for useful information and resources, we have followed in the steps of our father.” Speaking of his father, Abdulrehman cannot hold back his admiration and gratitude.
The two brothers opened an online shop for the village cooperative, Abdulrehman worked in the village with farmers, while the younger one stayed in Urumqi, getting in touch with buyers and storehouses. “Through the Internet, our products are linked with the outside world, and papa is so proud of us!”
But once, Abdulrehman made a mistake at the packing stage, by wrongly calculating the size of packing bags. A great number of walnuts could not be selected and put into bags. His father severely scolded him. “He’s still that strict father we knew when we were young.” Abdulrehman never made the same mistake again, despite of some small complaints occasionally.
Gradually, the walnut cooperative grew bigger and bigger, from 12 villagers at the beginning to 287 now. Some of them have fewer lands but joined in with shares. Some farmers, who used to grow wheat and corn, have shifted to growing walnut trees, to take advantage of e-commerce. This year, the growing area of walnut trees has reached 2100 mu (140 hectares), with an average increase of 30% income per mu with help from the local government, purchasers and shops in inland Chinese cities. All in all, the cooperative is really flourishing.
“This time of the year is the best time for dry fruit sale, and we are ready,” said Kebir. “We have just started with the e-commerce model in our township. I hope that my two sons can keep on doing this business and sell our walnuts to faraway places.” His eyes were full of hope as he spoke about the future.
Translated by Wu Jinying
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