CNPC Helps Move Unsalable Goods to Promote Poverty Alleviation

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), with 33 sales companies in provincial regions and convenient stores at more than 21,000 gas stations, is ramping up its support of China's poverty alleviation program.

The inability to sell goods because of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has frustrated China's peasant households, most of whom are poverty alleviation targets.

Stagnant markets for agricultural products have been crippling the progress of poverty alleviation. To relieve the situation, CNPC stepped up to help the peasants sell their products online and offline.

In early March, about 50,000 boxes of pears were piled up in Zhanggu village of Weixian county, Handan in Hebei province because of the raging pandemic. 

Most of the pears' growers are from poor families and sales means a lot to them.

Different from other crops, fruits are hard to keep. Temporary refrigeration can help but the high electric charges break villagers' hearts.

To relieve their burden, PetroChina Handan marketing company purchased 15,000 boxes of pears and allocated them to nearly 40 gas stations for sale.

The company also encouraged employees to use WeChat – a widely-used social media platform in China – and Tik Tok, another Chinese social media platform, to widen marketing channels and help sell the pears.

Pears of Zhanggu village of Weixian county, Handan in Hebei province, are on sale at a convenience store at a CNPC's gas station. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

By March 23, 11,325 boxes of pears had been sold.

The head of the Handan marketing company said that CNPC has millions of users as well as complete online-offline shopping platforms and an optimized system that can help with the sales difficulties.

Similar modes were also on stage in Hezhou of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, Anshan of Liaoning province and Meishan in Sichuan province where local branches of CNPC used their advantages in marketing to help peasants move their agricultural products including honey, flowers and quail eggs.

An employee at the CNPC's gas station introduces honey produced in Hezhou of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region at the convenient store. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]

(Executive editor: Zhang Tianyuan)