[Canton Fair Story] Wang Wenzhong: Seize the Opportunity of Export Own Products and Tell the Stories of China’s Intangible Cultural Heritage

“Canton Fair is a good platform for China’s private enterprises to go global.” At the 125th Canton Fair, Wang Wenzhong, Chairman of Anhui Huayu Crafts Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Anhui Huayu”) said: “Wickerwork is a national intangible cultural heritage. We must make our contribution to help traditional Chinese culture go to the world arena.”

“People in both urban and rural areas of Funan County are engaged in wickerwork, busy exporting wickerwork products to Europe and earning foreign exchange.” As the inheritor of Funan wickerwork, Wang Wenzhong shoulders the responsibility and mission of carrying forward this traditional culture of the Chinese nation. Through independent research, recycling of agricultural waste and application of new materials, Anhui Huayu developed “wickerwork + furniture” environmentally friendly products. An average of 40 new products are launched every year.

Anhui Huayu grew from a local small workshop to a group company with a total export value of 38 million USD. It firmly seizes the opportunity of exporting its own products. Overseas markets account 60% of its total output value. In particular, its home decorations are quite popular in the European and American markets.

In Funan County, the hometown of Chinese wickerwork, about 200,000 farmers are engaged in the wickerwork industry. Anhui Huayu reached an agreement on the assistance of village enterprises with the local government, and established 26 poverty alleviation workshops across China, providing more than 7,000 jobs. Among them, the number of poor households in “poverty alleviation workshops” reaches 31% of the total number of employees in the workshops. On average, annual income per household has reached 36,000 CNY. More than 1,000 poor households have been lifted out of poverty.

“There are not many wickerwork enterprises in China. We are willing to support small enterprises, and are obliged to push forward the development of this industry. It is our biggest goal to develop intangible cultural heritage and contribute to China’s targeted poverty alleviation”, said Wang.

Sources: WeChat account of Ministry of Commerce, Canton Fair Press Center, xinhuanet.com

Reporters: Ouyang Yunnan, Lu Jian