Yangzhou

Yangzhou, with a population of 4.6 million people, is located in the Yangtze River Delta. As the cradle of Huaiyang cuisine, Yangzhou has more than 20,000 catering enterprises, creating 245,000 jobs. In 2018, its catering industry had an aggregate income of US$ 2.322 billion. Yet Yangzhou also excels in the promulgation and promotion of its gastronomic heritage, with a large number of colleges and universities leading the country in the fields of food and cuisine. Furthermore, the Yangzhou Overseas Chinese Cuisine Celebration Centre, the first of its kind in China, trains over 100 foreign chefs annually.

Every year, Yangzhou hosts over 100 food-themed conferences, exhibitions, festivals and contests. These events are cross-cutting platforms organised to promote sector development and international exchange and cooperation, enabling Chinese and foreign citizens to share the delights of creative gastronomy. Since 2013, Yangzhou has held the annual Cross-Strait Vegetarian Culture Expo, bringing together a great variety of popular restaurants, and opening channels of exchange in the field of gastronomy between Yangzhou and more than 10 countries and regions. Furthering international culinary connectivity, in 2015, Yangzhou hosted the World Chefs of Chinese Cuisine in Ancient Yangzhou, an event which doubled up as a convention for top Chinese cuisine master chefs, from 12 countries, to discuss their craft. 

With regards to their policy creation and strategic planning, the government of Yangzhou has developed the 13th Five-Year Development Plan for Yangzhou Commerce and Trade Circulation Industry. This plan plays an important role in the development of gastronomy and the creative sectors. In addition to those long-term plans, Yangzhou has set up a Creative Gastronomy Development Fund worth US$ 2 million annually, to support the inheritance, protection, talent cultivation, innovation and entrepreneurship of traditional food culture.

• promoting the role of creative gastronomy as an important driver for the city’s sustainable urban, social, economic and cultural development;
• developing a creative economy and creating more employment opportunities for young people, women, and vulnerable groups through the Food Innovation and Entrepreneurship (FIE) Plan;
• attracting more people to become interested in gastro-culture so as to keep the city’s food culture alive, as well as protecting cultural diversity through the organization of the Yangzhou International Gourmet Festival and the Two-Thirds of the Moon Gourmet Festival, amongst others; and
• establishing the World Canal Cities Creativity Alliance, strengthening cooperation with African and Arab countries.