如何借咖啡讲好中国故事？ 多地媒体专家齐聚昆明献策

Brief (coffeeyo.com): At the “World Coffee · Chinese Expression” seminar in Kunming on September 17, media experts from Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and beyond agreed that telling China’s coffee story well means leaving the newsroom for Yunnan’s farms and cafés, and translating Chinese flavor into language overseas audiences can actually receive.

On September 17, the “World Coffee · Chinese Expression”—China Coffee Culture International Communication Seminar and the 2026 China Newspaper Media International Communication Work Symposium, hosted by the International Communication Capacity Building Committee of the China Newspaper Association and the Yunnan Daily Press Group, was held in Kunming. In the roundtable dialogue, media experts from Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu and elsewhere offered reference ideas for how mainstream media can use coffee to tell China’s story well and help Chinese coffee go global.

“Media can use coffee to tell China’s story well—the key lies in mining the fusion of local culture and global elements,” said Jiang Zheng, director of the external communication department of the Yangcheng Evening News Press Group, addressing Yunnan coffee’s rising deep-processing rate but still-weak soft power and an international perception stuck at “cheap raw bean.” Taking Guangzhou as an example—a major Chinese coffee-trade hub and among the first cities to popularize coffee consumption—its century-old teahouses and coffee shops coexist, forming a unique cultural collision. Guangdong people’s “coffee when free” lifestyle reflects the Lingnan culture’s embrace and reinvention of imported goods. Meanwhile, Guangdong’s 41,000 coffee shops lead the nation in roasting, equipment manufacturing and export, also giving Yunnan coffee much support. Media can show how coffee weaves into the daily details of village and city, conveying China’s open, innovative, integrative cultural image.

Yang Zhongming, editor-in-chief of the Chengdu Newspaper Group International Communication Center, argued that mainstream media should learn from Chengdu’s giant-panda international-communication experience and build a distinctive narrative with coffee as the carrier. First, dig deep into Yunnan coffee’s origin data and consumption realities, turning local coffee life into perceptible stories. Second, avoid chasing only communication volume; the key is forging a one-of-a-kind narrative and continuously strengthening the core IP. Through long-term persistence and repetition, let the Chinese coffee story form a stable global consensus. At the same time, clarify the true source and dissemination path of cultural symbols to ensure accurate, credible narrative. Ultimately, using coffee as a medium, lift China’s cultural international influence with real data and vivid stories.

“A small cup of coffee shows China’s new urban face, industrial upgrade and cultural external communication,” said Dai Jiuyue, deputy director of the European Times’ Beijing office. The European Times, a multilingual, multi-platform cultural-media group, has for 40 years devoted itself to telling China’s story and building a China–Europe cultural bridge. On the coffee theme, the European Times has found three paths: first, a people interface—through French baristas’ personal experiences in China, show European readers the openness and inclusiveness of Chinese cities; second, a product carrier—using cultural samples like the “liquor-flavored latte” to interpret the cultural phenomenon of traditional Chinese baijiu culture blending with global trendy drinks; third, an industry window—tracking Yunnan coffee and domestic coffee equipment appearing at international expos in London, Paris and elsewhere, reflecting China’s industrial upgrade and cultural output.

Wang Huan, new-media lead of Yunnan’s South and Southeast Asia Regional International Communication Center, argued that mainstream media can use coffee’s “silent snowball effect” to tell China’s story through small scenes. For instance, inviting Vietnamese coffee merchants to Lijiang, Yunnan, for a “one cup connects the world” exchange—within days it changed their perception of China, from worrying about safety to planning to send a daughter to study in China; or a Sri Lankan media delegation and 20-plus coffee practitioners from eight countries joining a “coffee communicator incubator,” through field experience and exchange letting coffee become a soft carrier linking China and abroad and conveying a true Chinese image. Mainstream media should focus on such concrete individuals and tiny changes, using coffee as a medium and real, perceptible international-exchange scenes to let the China story produce broad, far-reaching communication effects almost imperceptibly.

At this roundtable, the experts unanimously agreed that for mainstream media to tell China’s coffee story well, they must leave the newsroom for Yunnan’s origins, manors and cafés, experiencing the whole process of planting and roasting. At the same time, shift the discourse system, translating Chinese flavor into expressions overseas audiences can understand and receive, and using coffee’s social and communicative nature let culture seep into hearts, forming a closed loop from story mining to international resonance.

By Zhao Gang, Li Xilin, Zhang Qimin, Liu Chang, Xia Xintong, Wang Xiaoyu, Yang Yuan, Xu Zhuohao of Yunnan Net.

Editor: Du Shiyu

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