The Hunan Cuisine Overseas Promotion Center was officially inaugurated on July 14, 2026. Launched by Hunan Daily, the center will be operated by Da Xiangcai (Hunan Cuisine) Newspaper, serving as a dedicated international public service platform for the Hunan cuisine industry.

The center will offer core services including information consulting, policy application support, cross-border logistics, compliance and risk control, brand incubation, and digital marketing. Besides, it will set up offline physical spaces, creating a full-chain international service system.

In November 2025, the General Office of the Hunan Provincial People's Government issued Measures on Supporting the Innovative Development of Hunan Cuisine. The Measures explicitly called for supporting the digital transformation of Hunan cuisine media like Da Xiangcai Newspaper, and building influential centers for Hunan cuisine promotion, overseas expansion, and training. The inauguration of the Hunan Cuisine Overseas Promotion Center is one of the specific steps to implement the measures.

"There are nearly 2,000 Hunan cuisine restaurants overseas, making Hunan dishes the most vibrant and appealing calling card for Hunan's international exchanges," said Guo Xiangli, deputy director of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Hunan Provincial People's Government. She stated that the office will continue to promote coordination across "six foreign-related" aspects—foreign trade, foreign investment, foreign economic cooperation, foreign talent, foreign affairs, and international publicity, fully boosting the development of the Hunan Cuisine Overseas Promotion Center and making the vibrant Huxiang flavor a testament to Hunan's opening up.

Currently, the overseas market for Chinese cuisine is valued at approximately 3 trillion CNY. With a focus on "news + culture + technology + service," Hunan Daily will act as a "connector" for resource integration, a "facilitator" for enterprises going global, and a "promoter" for brand outreach, helping Hunan cuisine go global in a more professionalized, normalized, and large-scale way.

Zhao Chengxin, deputy director of the Publicity Department of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee and director of the Information Office of the Hunan Provincial People's Government, and Zhong Jun, secretary of the Party Leadership Group and president of Hunan Daily, jointly unveiled the plaque for the center. Da Xiangcai Newspaper reached strategic cooperation agreements with two Hunan-based foreign trade companies for subsequent collaboration in such areas as digital service platform development and compliance and risk control system building.

As the operator of the center, Da Xiangcai Newspaper has organized seven trips of Hunan cuisine enterprises since 2016 to countries including France, the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Russia, and the United Arab Emirates, hosting promotional activities such as cultural and culinary events, culinary exchanges, and overseas business matchmaking. Hundreds of Hunan cuisine brands from across the country have actively participated, driving shared development across the upstream and downstream industry chain covering dining, ingredients, and seasonings.

This article is from Hunan Provincial Government. www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Pang Yuehui

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn