2025.08

Quanzhou Charts a New Course on the Digital Silk Road

来源：清新国新作者：马中南

Once a bustling maritime merchant hub linking East and West, Quanzhou, east China’s Fujian province, is still depicating vitality in trade and digital transformation.

“There are nine million Chinese in foreign countries from Quanzhou. This is our bridge to the world and our confidence,” said Ye Shipeng, Vice President of the Chinese Association in Zambia from Quanzhou. Ye has helped lead local businesses into African markets, transitioning from timber trade to furniture exports under the Belt and Road Initiative.

“Quanzhou’s strong industrial network makes us respond quickly to our customers in Africa—one missing part doesn’t mean a month of delay.” said Ye.

Enterprises from the city have set up overseas warehouses in regiones including Southeast Asia and Europe to ensure supply chain efficiency, exporting goods such as textiles, construction materials, and machinery.

泉州有深厚的海丝历史

Quanzhou’s closed ties with foreign countries is not surprising, because it has thousands years of history of international exchange. Quanzhou was a major port during the Song and Yuan dynasties. In the 13th century, Ibn Battuta described it as the largest port in the world. Today, its legacy as a gateway to global exchange is being redefined through technology and cross-border commerce.

Nowadays, Quanzhou is also enbracing new forms of business models. On Thursday, Quanzhou hosted the 2025 World Internet Conference Digital Silk Road Development Forum. It focused on AI, smart ports, and cross-border e-commerce, the event underscored China’s vision of a “community with a shared future in cyberspace.”

泉州跨境电商

One local practice lies in the Donghai Cross-Border E-Commerce Hub, which offers end-to-end services for companies going global.

“We’ve built a one-stop platform for the global expansion of small and medium enterprises in Quanzhou” said general manager of the Hub, Huang Canyang.

“From online storefronts and customs clearance to AI product selection and tax refunds, it’s all integrated,” he added. The platform serves more than 1,000 firms—over 90% from Quanzhou—and equips small manufacturers with AI tools for market targeting, advertising, and content generation.

黄灿阳在介绍平台模式

Consumer-facing brands are also adapting. “We launched a smart backpack that reduces load strain by nearly 60%,” said Chen Xinjing, overseas marketing manager at Yintai Bag Manufacturing in the Hub. The product is now available in Spain and Southeast Asia, with digital sales channels including Amazon and TikTok. The company relies on cross-border analytics to track the market trends.

平台推荐的电商爆款

From ancient port to algorithm-powered platform, Quanzhou is weaving a new Silk Road through digital infrastructure and global manufacturing. Its evolution reflects broader shifts in China’s economy: from labor-intensive exports to tech-enabled globalization; from supply chains to data chains.

Quanzhou is not only revisiting its past—it’s helping define the next chapter of the Maritime Silk Road.

文字、排版 | 马中南

图片 | 马中南

编辑：liuyx

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