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On January 12, West African buyer Fofana Soumaila traveled to Hefei specifically to place an order. For Hefei Caiyang Stationery Co., Ltd. ("Caiyang Stationery"), foreign buyers visiting in person has become routine. By incorporating traditional Chinese culture and intangible‑cultural‑heritage elements into their stationery, the company's products now sell in more than 180 countries, with export revenue around 300 million yuan last year.
"It's safe to say foreign buyers come to visit almost every day," Deputy General Manager Liu Weiwei told reporters. The company is now in peak production and sales season, and New Year orders are pouring in.
In 2025 Caiyang's revenue exceeded 300 million yuan, and its cross‑border live‑selling briefly ranked it among the top three in the office and education category on Alibaba International. Speaking about these achievements, Liu noted that Caiyang originally engaged in ordinary stationery export — a highly competitive market for standard student pens and notebooks.
"How did you manage to stand out in the international market?" asked the Hefei reporter. Liu revealed the breakthrough came from an accidental experiment: a salesperson uploaded a notebook sample printed with Huizhou architectural elements to a cross‑border platform and unexpectedly received active inquiries from overseas customers. "That made us realize that products with cultural 'added value' can better resonate with international markets."
But how to help overseas consumers understand Chinese cultural symbols? When the team first promoted their "12 Zodiac" series, they ran into difficulties. "Many clients didn't understand why the rat is first among the Chinese zodiac, or what a dragon actually is," they said. Caiyang Stationery's solution was "cross‑border live streams plus cultural explanation."
In the company's livestream studio the backdrop isn't loud promotional banners but an elegant arrangement of traditional scholar's desk items. Instead of frantically shouting "buy now," the host acts like a cultural envoy, holding up products and calmly explaining: "In Chinese legend, the rat is quick and clever and won first place in the zodiac race. The dragon symbolizes auspiciousness and power — a wise, mythical creature…"
This "slow livestream" approach not only boosted sales to new highs but also became an efficient customer‑acquisition channel. Many individual buyers initially drawn by the streams later became long‑term wholesale partners after learning about the company's customization capabilities. "The livestream has become our most vivid product catalog and cultural experience center," Liu said.
Adapting Eastern Aesthetics for Global Markets
On January 14 the Hefei reporter entered Caiyang Stationery's sample room and felt as if stepping into a miniature "kaleidoscope of Chinese culture," with thousands of stationery samples neatly displayed: stationery printed with subtle ink‑wash landscapes, bookmarks engraved with delicate seal‑carving, retractable ballpoint pens adorned with Chinese poetry. These products, however, are not a one‑size‑fits‑all solution. Caiyang's secret lies in using the same "cultural ruler" to measure the "temperature differences" of various markets and making precise adjustments.
"Western customers prefer collectible, high‑quality items," Liu explained. For that market, the team launched premium boxed zodiac fountain‑pen sets that include a carefully written English cultural interpretation booklet detailing each zodiac's story and symbolism. Materials emphasize weighty metals and solid wood, with minimalist, elegant packaging design.
In Southeast Asia, portability and value for money are valued. Caiyang prints auspicious motifs like pandas and koi on lightweight notepads, folders, and bookmarks priced affordably for students and office workers. For color‑and‑decoration‑oriented Middle Eastern markets, the team retains the Chinese cultural core while boldly adopting vivid local color palettes and adding refined finishes such as foil stamping and embossing.
This refined strategy has paid off. Currently, cultural creative products themed on pandas, the twelve zodiac animals, and Huizhou architecture account for more than 30% of Caiyang's overseas sales and consistently rank among top sellers in the U.S., Germany, and the U.K.
She revealed the company plans to focus this year on cultural product series centered on intangible heritage elements such as Huangmei opera, paper‑cutting, and Shexian inkstones. Liu gave examples like bookmark sets featuring classic Huangmei opera masks and combining paper‑cut hollow‑work with modern notepaper.
"We hope Caiyang's products do more than export goods — they can evoke emotional resonance and value recognition among overseas consumers." Their goal is for users, when using a pen or notebook, to naturally encounter the aesthetics and philosophy of Chinese culture.
On the production lines, lights shift over rows of stationery soon to depart for the far side of the globe, continuing to tell China's age‑old yet newly unfolding stories.
Source: Jianghuai Morning Post
