Reports suggest that Alibaba plans to train a million teenagers in rural China to help them launch their own online business. The company’s internet finance arm, Ant Financial, plans to invest $155 million to support college graduates who wish to return to their home province to become entrepreneurs. In the beginning of this year, Alibaba’s CEO Daniel Zhang had mentioned that rural e-commerce will be one of its key battlefields in 2016. Rural markets in China hold strong growth potential for Alibaba, given that internet penetration in rural areas of China is set to increase. According to eMarketer, by 2019 China will add 139 million digital buyers coming from less urban areas as internet access expands. While Alibaba has already built more than 10,000 village-level service centers to promote e-commerce, its current initiative to promote youths to launch their online business should provide a boost to its rural e-commerce growth strategy.

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