A new window into China

After nearly a decade in China over two diplomatic postings, Tinatin Shishinashvili thought there was little left to surprise her. Then she stopped at a booth displaying a blue-and-white teacup — one that any visitor to Turkiye would recognize instantly as the country's iconic tulipshaped tea glass, rendered here in Jingdezhen's signature cobalt glaze.

"Silk and porcelain — everyone knows these," said Shishinashvili, senior counselor at the embassy of Georgia in Beijing, as she browsed exhibits at the Finest Cultural Gifts From China cultural and tourism trade promotion event in late June.

"But China has so much more to offer. There are products, art forms and cultural expressions that people overseas have simply never encountered," she added.

Moments earlier, she had been deep in conversation with representatives of the China Oriental Performing Arts Group, one of the country's most prestigious performance ensembles, about possible cooperation.

An idea was beginning to take shape: Could Georgian traditional dance, with its soaring leaps and women gliding across the stage in flowing dresses, one day be performed alongside Chinese classical productions?

As she made her way through the exhibition hall, she paused to listen to the stories behind the products on display.

She lingered at the Jingdezhen booth, asking about the workshop where the teacups were made, and the artisans who painted each brushstroke by hand.

She said she would love to visit the city in Jiangxi province, walk through the kiln sites, and watch the craftspeople at work. "A porcelain learning tour to Jingdezhen is now on my list."

Shishinashvili's experience reflected a broader theme running through the event: how Chinese cultural products, creative industries and ideas are reaching new audiences overseas, while those encounters are reshaping perceptions on both sides.

The event was designed to facilitate those encounters. Co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's Department of Industry Development, the Department of Services for Foreign Ministry Home and Overseas Offices, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, and the Beijing Dongcheng district, the cultural and tourism trade promotion event brought together diplomats from 14 countries and regions, officials from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and representatives from cultural and tourism enterprises across China.

Addressing participants, Miao Muyang, director-general of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's Department of Industry Development, described cultural and tourism trade as both an important driver of international economic cooperation and a bridge for exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations.

Since 2022, the ministry has organized 18 editions of the initiative at home and abroad, creating platforms that connect Chinese enterprises with overseas buyers, cross-border e-commerce platforms and industry partners.

This year's event featured more than 30 exhibitors representing intangible cultural heritage, cultural technology, performing arts, creative products, and lifestyle brands.

Organizers said the goal was not only to showcase products and services with market potential, but also to create opportunities for dialogue, business matchmaking and long-term partnerships.

Reaching out

Representing the Jingdezhen Trade Business Ceramics Cultural Tourism Industry Operation Management Co at the Beijing event, Fu Yao, the company's general manager, spoke enthusiastically about Jingdezhen's efforts to bring its thousand-year-old porcelain tradition to new international audiences.

As visitors examined ceramic jewelry, tea sets and contemporary cultural products displayed at her booth, she recalled a moment from the Milan Handicraft Fair, one of Europe's leading showcases for artisanal craftsmanship.

European visitors would pick up the porcelain pieces, turn them over in their hands and study the brushwork in disbelief. "They simply couldn't believe that human hands could produce something so precise," Fu says.

Although Jingdezhen is celebrated in China as the "Porcelain Capital" and its wares once traveled along maritime trade routes to royal courts across Europe, many overseas consumers know little about how the pieces are made.

"Only when people spend several days in Jingdezhen, make pottery themselves and experience the process firsthand, can they truly understand why this city has produced 1,000 years of ceramic culture," she says.

Recent visa facilitation measures have encouraged more international visitors to stay longer in Jingdezhen rather than treat it as a brief stopover, she says.

Many now take part in pottery workshops, tour historical kiln sites and explore the city's ceramic markets, gaining a deeper appreciation of the craftsmanship behind every finished piece.

The city's outreach has also expanded through international exhibitions and trade fairs.

Among the products on display in Beijing was a Turkish-style tea glass decorated with Turkish textile motifs, illustrating how Jingdezhen artisans are adapting traditional craftsmanship for overseas markets.

The product has generated nearly 2 million yuan ($295,000) in sales in Turkiye, Fu says.

Potential market

More than 2,000 kilometers to the south, where the Pearl River meets the South China Sea, Xu Fengjuan has witnessed firsthand the growing international interest in Guangzhou's Nansha district.

"When we first started attending international events, people were curious, but they knew little about China's yacht industry," says Xu, executive deputy general manager of Guangzhou Nansha Marina.

"Many assumed we were still at a very early stage."

The marina was established in 2011 with the ambitious goal of building a facility that met international standards, at a time when China's modern yacht industry was still in its infancy.

"There were few standards, limited infrastructure and very little experience to draw on," Xu says. "We had to learn everything from scratch."

Over the following decade, the club developed a full range of services, from berthing and maintenance to licensing support and training programs. It also became one of the first marinas on the Chinese mainland to receive the 5 Gold Anchor Platinum accreditation from The Yacht Harbour Association, the industry's highest honor.

But for Xu, the more meaningful progress has been less visible.

Creating conditions for easier movement of yachts within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area required years of coordination among customs, maritime and regulatory authorities. Those efforts reached a milestone in mid-June, just days before the Beijing trade promotion event, when the first official Greater Bay Area yacht freetravel voyage departed from the Nansha yacht club.

"We spent years working with different departments and introducing international best practices," Xu says.

"Progress came step by step."

Today, about one-third of the club's roughly 100 members come from Hong Kong and Macao, a sign of growing regional connectivity.

The club has also invested heavily in youth sailing programs. Since 2014, young sailors trained in Nansha have competed in regattas in Portugal and the United States.

Its annual yacht expo and sailing regatta have also attracted a growing number of manufacturers, dealers and sailing enthusiasts from around the world.

Xu says she has noticed another shift in recent years. Overseas yacht organizations that once had little contact with China are now reaching out directly.

European clubs have contacted Nansha to arrange visits, explore partnerships and learn more about developments in the Greater Bay Area.

"Fifteen years ago, we were studying international standards and learning from others. Now, people come here to see what we are doing," Xu says.

The change reminds her of something she often hears from first-time visitors.

"They arrive with one impression of China," she says. "After they spend time here, they leave with a different one."