URUMQI, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- He Jiaolong, an official from northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region who gained widespread recognition for promoting local tourism and agricultural products through social media platforms, died on Wednesday following a horse-riding accident.
She was 47. The news trended on social media in China, prompting grief not only from colleagues but from Xinjiang's farmers, herders and viewers who had known her through their phone screens.
A farewell ceremony for He was held in Zhaosu County, northwestern Xinjiang, on Friday morning. Family members, close friends, officials from the regional department of agriculture and rural affairs, and members of the public gathered to bid her farewell.
In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic left agricultural produce stranded in her hometown of Zhaosu, she was serving as a deputy county head. With tourism at a standstill and crops unsold, she turned to livestreaming, an unfamiliar approach and, to some, an unconventional one for a government official.
He became a viral sensation after filming a horse-riding video that racked up more than 100 million views in just three days. By early 2025, she had hosted more than 500 livestreams, generating over 600 million yuan (about 85.62 million U.S. dollars) in online sales, directly or indirectly lifting incomes for over 10,000 households.
In 2023, she was appointed director of the regional center for agricultural brand development and marketing services. In this role, she had been focusing on selecting high-quality agricultural products across Xinjiang and building the brand of "Taste Xinjiang."
"I constantly remind myself that I am a public servant, and that my online influence exists to serve the people," He once said.
Xu Tao, deputy head of the department, said that over more than two decades of public service, He remained deeply committed to serving the people, earning distinction in what were often ordinary posts.
"Through her livestreams, we saw the many breathtaking landscapes of Xinjiang and came to know its rich array of high-quality agricultural products," said a netizen. "In an age driven by material desire, she was truly someone who wrote her public service ideals onto the land itself." ■
