Song Peng, Secretary of the Regional Development Research Institute at Tianjin University, was rewarded with the National Innovation Award for Poverty Alleviation by the State Council in October, 2018.

In 2015, Song was assigned as the Party Secretary of Dazhai Country in Shawan Town, Longnan City. He spent three years exploring the development of e-commerce in this rural area. Under his leadership, local agricultural products, such as Tanchang yellow wine, Tanchang herbal honey and Shawan prickly ash, were sold online, which paved a way to wealth for local villagers. Nowadays, the agricultural products from Shawan are popular on several e-commerce platforms. Many online malls put Shawan’s green food on their shelves. The realization of the Dazhai Dream is promising. Local villagers attributed the accomplishment to the Party Secretary’s efforts.

Song was dedicated to enhancing villagers’ cultural quality as well as developing e-commerce industries. He prompted the establishment of various training programs, such as “E-commerce Training in Rural Areas” and “Tanchang Youth Chamber of E-commerce”, to cultivate villagers’ abilities of innovation and entrepreneurship, business acumen and understanding of an e-commerce development model in the new era. Following Song’s counsel, Tianjin University alumni’s enterprises signed the ‘Coupling Assistance and Cooperation Agreement’ with the village to build “Jishixian Chinese Prickly Ash Base” and “Jishixian Chinese Honey Base”. Additionally, Song implemented measures for every household with financial difficulties, launching crowd-funding for local elders and a 13-year-old girl suffering from acute lymphocytic leukemia.

Song often encouraged local youths: “Happiness is achieved by working hard, and the happiness of youth is realized by fortitude and diligence.”