New poems written in the "world vocabulary"
From January 15th to 16th, 2026, the ten-year review and Prospect of the "China White · Re-Start" project and the Exchange meeting of "Blanc de Chine· China White" - the Brand Road of Dehua were held respectively in Dehua, the "World Capital of Ceramics", and the international metropolis Xiamen. Through a series of dialogues that span history and the present and connect the local with the world, the event explored new paths for the branding and internationalization of the traditional ceramic industry, presenting the extraordinary journey of "China White" from historical memory to an international brand. It provided a "Dehua model" with reference significance for the brand upgrade of the national ceramic industry and even traditional industrial clusters.
Tracing the origin of the thousand-year-old kiln fire and retracing the cultural roots of "Chinese White"
On the afternoon of January 15th, some of the attending guests visited the 400-year-old Yueji Kiln in Dehua. This still-active ancient kiln is a vivid testament to the continuous firing of Dehua ceramics for a thousand years. The guests here directly experience the profound cultural origin of "China White" - Dehua White porcelain has been exported overseas from Quanzhou, an important starting point of the Maritime Silk Road, since the Song and Yuan Dynasties. It is renowned worldwide for its characteristics of "as white as snow, as bright as a mirror, as thin as paper, and as sound as a chime", and was given the reputation of "Blanc de Chine" (China White) by the French in the 17th century and became popular in Europe.
Discuss the future of brands together and build a consensus in the industry for a "new start"
On the morning of January 16th, the "China White" Dehua Ceramic Industry Exchange Theme Activity was held at Dehua Vocational and Technical School. Huang Shixing, a member of the Standing Committee of the Dehua County Committee of the Communist Party of China and the head of the Publicity Department, in his speech, reviewed the strategic original intention and ten-year journey of the "China White - Re-Launch" project since its launch in 2015. The event was hosted by Hu Xin, the secretary-general of the French side of the China-France Cultural Forum and the secretary-general of the organizing committee of the Grand Prix. Claudia Casalli, director of the International Museum of Ceramics in Faenza, Italy; Jean-Francois Fuyou, a French ceramic artist; Harumi Nakajima, a Japanese ceramic artist; Tao Wang, Pritzker Director of the Asian Art Department at the Art Institute of Chicago, USA; Bai Ming, Director of the Ceramic Art Committee of the China Artists Association; Yan Wenbin, former vice president of Xinhua News Agency; John Fairbank of Harvard University, USA More than ten leading figures from both domestic and international industries, including Zhao Meng, a researcher at the China Research Center, Yu Zhiqiang, the initiator and sponsor of the "China White · Re-Start" project, and Li Jiping, vice chairman of the Ceramic Brand Cluster, engaged in in-depth discussions on "international exchanges, artistic empowerment, brand building, and industrial upgrading".
The discussion reviewed that the "China White · Re-Departure" project, through launching three major projects including the International Ceramic Art Grand Prix, the International Artist Residency Program and the International Forum, successfully attracted the participation of global artists, promoted the integration of ceramic art and contemporary creativity, and helped "Blanc de Chine· China White" transform from a glorious historical term. Gradually shape it into a regional brand of Dehua, a Chinese brand and even a spiritual brand with global influence.