(Source: "Yunnan Daily" 2025-09-20)
In the Yunling Plateau in the southwest of the motherland, there is a flowing business epic hidden in the folds of the Hengduan Mountains. Here, snow-capped mountains and rivers dance together, and multi-ethnic cultures intertwine and coexist. The special geography and culture have given birth to a unique group of Yunnan merchants in the history of Chinese business. Come from the hump of history and rush towards the tide of the times. In July 2021, Yunnan's first Yunnan Business Conference was successfully held in Kunming. The connotation of Yunnan businessmen with the core values of "openness, inclusiveness, enriching Yunnan and benefiting the world" has been continuously inherited and promoted. This spirit is deeply rooted in the unique historical and cultural fertile ground of Yunnan for thousands of years. Countless Dian merchants have fulfilled their missions over the long years. After generations of hard work and selfless dedication, this spiritual trait has been continuously condensed, refined and sublimated, and has become a cultural gene flowing in the blood of Dian merchants.
Open and inclusiveThe spiritual background of Yunnan merchants traveling through mountains and seas
Yunnan is located in the southwest border of China, with high mountains and deep valleys criss-crossing it and rushing rivers. In ancient times, traffic conditions were extremely congested. If caravans want to transport Yunnan's tea, copper ore, medicinal materials and other specialties to the Central Plains or border areas, they not only have to face the threat of wild beast attacks, but also have to withstand the test of extreme weather. Such difficulties and obstacles did not restrain the Yunnan merchants, but instead tempered their perseverance and courage to pioneer.
Yunnan is a place where many ethnic groups live together. Through long-term exchanges and exchanges, a unique cultural ecology has been formed here.彝族的火把节、傣族的泼水节、纳西族的东巴文化等，共同交织成一个多元共生的文化场域。 At the same time, as an important node of the "Southern Silk Road", Yunnan has also had long-term exchanges and integration with the cultures of Indochina and South Asian countries. This dual attribute of "frontierness" and "openness" makes Yunnan merchants naturally possess the characteristics of openness and tolerance. They can not only abide by the same business ethics as Central Plains merchants, but also respect the trading habits of ethnic minorities and be flexible in cross-cultural w88. Since the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, Yunnan has been more profoundly influenced by the culture of the Central Plains. Confucianism has collided and merged with local culture, forming a unique tradition of "border Confucian merchants". In the process of business operation, Dian businessmen are not limited to local business thinking, but draw on the advanced experience of other regions with an open mind, and continuously enrich and develop their own business wisdom in multi-cultural exchanges. This cultural inclusiveness enabled Yunnan merchants to carry out commercial activities on a broader stage and promoted the prosperity of Yunnan's commerce in history.
In the new era, open and inclusive Yunnan merchants are bursting with unprecedented vitality and vitality driven by globalization and the "One Belt, One Road" initiative. Yunnan is now continuing to promote the construction of a radiation center for South Asia and Southeast Asia, and Yunnan merchants, relying on its profound tradition of openness and inclusiveness, are actively participating in the tide of international economic cooperation and writing a glorious chapter. They not only maintain close business ties with various regions in the country, but also expand their horizons to neighboring countries and even the global market. They have left their active presence and solid footprints in cross-border e-commerce, international logistics, cultural tourism and other fields.
Dian businessmen embrace the world with an open attitude and use the power of cooperation to build a future together, demonstrating the vision and responsibility of Chinese entrepreneurs in the new era. As Yunnan's opening up to the outside world continues to expand, Yunnan businessmen have kept pace with the times, actively embraced new technologies and new concepts, integrated modern information technologies such as the Internet and big data into business practices, continuously expanded business channels, and improved operating efficiency. At the 2025 Global Yunnan Business Development Summit and the second anniversary celebration of the Yunnan Chamber of Commerce, the "Era Yunnan Business·2025 Most Business Innovation Model" excellent case collection activity focused on the four major innovation areas of Internet-driven business model innovation, technology-enabled industrial upgrading, value reconstruction of service innovation, and social value-oriented sustainable development model. In the end, 30 companies stood out. These excellent cases not only demonstrate the active exploration of Dian businessmen on the road of innovation, but also demonstrate their firm belief in embracing change with an open and inclusive attitude and driving development with innovation.
Enrich Dian and help the worldDian merchants’ mission to take root in their country
Yunnan’s commercial history has a long history, which can be traced back to the “Five-foot Road” in the Qin and Han Dynasties. However, it truly prospered during the “Tea-Horse w88” in the Tang and Song Dynasties and the “Yunnan Copper Transport to Beijing” in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. In the official-dominated w88 system, Yunnan merchants serve as intermediaries, and the w88 activities they undertake not only involve huge wealth, but also are related to the country's border stability. For example, the "Dian Copper Transport to Beijing" in the Qing Dynasty required millions of kilograms of copper materials to be transported every year. Through the "official supervision and commercial operation" model, Dian merchants ensured a stable supply of copper mines in extremely harsh environments. They adhere to the business ethics of respecting trust and justice and treating people with sincerity. For example, the leader of the caravan ("Ma Guotou") regards credibility as his life and will never embezzle goods even if he faces huge temptations of profit. This kind of character of "a promise worth a thousand pieces of gold" has become an important symbol of the caravan spirit. Another example is Wang Chi, the founder of the "Tong Qingfeng" business name in the Qing Dynasty. He accumulated wealth for profit and used it for righteousness throughout his life, actively promoting the development of industry and education in Yunnan. He successively developed the Dongchuan Copper Mine and the Gejiu Tin Mine, and established the public welfare "Xingwendang" in Kunming to subsidize poor students. He also opened warehouses to distribute grain, built bridges and paved roads during disaster years, and transformed business success into social welfare, becoming a model for Yunnan merchants to "balance justice and profit". Yunnan businessmen like Wang Chi are not alone. After becoming rich, many Yunnan businessmen actively invested in local education and established new schools, which not only shouldered social responsibilities but also promoted local development. This characteristic of Yunnan merchants, which closely combines commercial interests with social responsibilities, has profound humanistic care and long-term development vision, and also allows the tradition of "border Confucian merchants" to be inherited and demonstrated in Yunnan.
In modern times, Yunnan’s border status has become increasingly prominent due to the country’s peril. During the Anti-Japanese War, Yunnan became a strategic location in the rear area, and Yunnan merchants played an irreplaceable role in material transportation, industrial construction, and educational support. On the Burma Highway, tens of thousands of Yunnan businessmen and migrant workers used their flesh and blood to repair the "lifeline of the Anti-Japanese War", providing a strong guarantee for the transportation of Anti-Japanese War materials. This spirit of having the same structure of family and country and having the courage to take on responsibilities has enabled Dian merchants to closely connect their business activities with the destiny of the nation and become a group with strong feelings of family and country among the modern Chinese business gangs. They supported the country's war of resistance with their commercial strength and made important contributions to the country's independence and national liberation, fully embodying the noble sentiment of "enriching Yunnan and benefiting the world".
The preface to the series "A Hundred Years of Yunnan Businessmen" writes that Yunnan businessmen are most concerned about the public welfare undertakings in their hometown and the fate of the country. The vast number of Yunnan businessmen have always resonated and developed together with their country and country in the long process of development. With the in-depth implementation of the national rural revitalization strategy, Yunnan businessmen actively responded to the call and used their own business resources and experience to devote themselves to the construction of their hometown and promote the development of Yunnan's characteristic industries. Many Yunnan business enterprises have created a large number of employment opportunities, promoted the development of rural economy and injected vitality into rural revitalization by establishing agricultural product processing bases and developing rural tourism. In 2021, the Yunnan Province "Thousands of Enterprises to Prosper Thousands of Villages" Action Launch Conference issued an initiative calling on Yunnan businessmen to actively participate in rural revitalization. The majority of Yunnan businessmen have fulfilled their commitments with practical actions and contributed wisdom and strength to rural development. In 2025, at the second anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Yunnan Chamber of Commerce, more than a thousand Yunnan business representatives from more than 150 countries and regions around the world traveled across the mountains and seas, returning to their hometown with deep feelings for their hometown and valuable experience accumulated abroad to share their nostalgia and explore the development opportunities and cooperation directions of Yunnan.
In short, Yunnan merchants played multiple important roles in the historical development of Yunnan. They are the writers of profound entrepreneurial epics. With their perseverance and innovative spirit, they continue to explore and move forward in the business field. From traditional industries to emerging industries, they have created remarkable business achievements. They are the shining business card of Yunnan. They have won market recognition and customer trust with their honest operations and high-quality services, and have promoted Yunnan's business culture and specialty products to the whole country and even the world. They actively fulfill their social responsibilities and contribute to economic and social development. From the ancient caravans and camel bells, to the modern Yunnan-Burma Highway, to today's China-Laos Railway and digital w88 routes, the "w88 routes" of Yunnan merchants are changing, but the spirit of "openness and inclusiveness, enriching Yunnan and benefiting the world" has always been passed down.
[The author 1 is a doctoral student in the Scientific Socialism Teaching and Research Department of the Party w88 casino of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (National w88 casino of Administration), and the author 2 is a researcher at the National Institute of Opening-up at the w88 casino; this article is a research result of the 2024 National Social Science Fund College Ideological and Political Theory Course Research Project "Research on the Mechanism and Path of Xi Jinping's Cultural Thoughts Leading the 'Big Ideological and Political Course' to Create Souls and Educate People" (Project Number: 24VSZ115)]
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