Alibaba, the world’s largest e-commerce company, has changed China. Its impact is perhaps the most transformational in some of China’s smallest, poorest and most remote rural villages.

By getting online, farmers can shop more widely and buy more cheaply a vast range of products never before available in rural China. In addition, they can sell directly their farm products, both fresh and packaged, to tens of millions of customers living in cities across China.

I’m one of those urban dwellers in China who does some of the food shopping from tiny rural family businesses on Taobao. Recently I bought dried chili peppers from Sichuan province, apple vinegar from Shanxi, and dried sweet potato chips from Shandong. Everything I bought from rural producers is great. But, the real enjoyment comes from knowing that, thanks to Alibaba, my money can go directly to the people working hard to build a better life for themselves and their families in rural China. This, in turn, helps narrow the income gap between rural and urban.

Unlike the two big US e-commerce companies, Amazon and eBay, Alibaba takes no commission on purchases made on Taobao. This is what economists call “frictionless trade”, where buyers and sellers can transact without any middlemen taking a cut. It is a dream of farmers worldwide to sell products directly to customers and so earn more for their hard work.

Alibaba is paying for tens of thousands of “Village Taobao” centers across China. Here, farmers can get free help to buy and sell online. Nowhere else on the planet is e-commerce being as successfully introduced into the lives of small village farmers.