A hostess (right) from Ningbo introduces the walnut oil during a livestream with a local farmer in Muli county, Southwest China's Sichuan province on July 17. [Photo/Ningbo Evening News] 

A livestreaming team from Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province held a three-hour livestream in Muli county, Southwest China's Sichuan province on July 17 to help promote local agricultural products.

Muli county, located in Sichuan's Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture, is one of only two Tibetan autonomous counties in the nation. It has been paired with Ningbo's Yinzhou district under an east-west poverty relief program launched by the central government.

Due to sufficient rainfall and sunlight, Muli county is suitable for growing walnuts. The walnut planting area in the county stands at nearly 40,133 hectares, but the local farmers have been struggling to find customers due to the county's remote location.

Making things worse, mudslides caused by heavy rain in a valley in Muli county on July 5 resulted in 200 hectares of walnuts becoming unmarketable.

To help the farmers to promote their walnuts, a livestreaming team from Yinzhou district named "Yinguangyicai" held a show featuring various walnut products from Muli county. The team arrived in the county on July 16 and spent 22 hours preparing for the show.

The three-hour live promotion of Muli walnuts drew nearly 470,000 viewers online and generated sales of 226,000 yuan ($34,866).