Xu Penghuai, a man dedicated to serving overseas Chinese and expats in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province [Photo/Zheshang Magazine]

Wenzhou in East China's Zhejiang province is renowned for its large international population. Xu Penghuai, a native in the city, and a relative of an overseas Chinese, is looking for efficient ways to serve the overseas group and to boost international exchanges.

Xu used to be a reporter at a local media outlet. Bases on his understandings of overseas Chinese and global communications, Xu has built several platforms for these people since 2015 under the guidance of the local department of overseas Chinese affairs, including liaison offices in foreign countries.

This April, Xu began running a base for international exchanges in Wenzhou, consisting of three main function centers, for global communications, cultural exchanges and cross-border services respectively.

Along with the base, a strong and professional team with nearly 200 overseas Chinese leaders and 12 foreigners was built for international promotion of Wenzhou stories; more than 40 liaison offices have been set up in other countries; around 500 foreign people who concern about the city's development have joined the volunteer team.

Xu paid attention to the building of online publicity channels, such as the bilingual all-media platform (including a bilingual website, a WeChat account, a Weibo account, a mobile application and a video program) and a hotline with bilingual services aiming to educate people around the world about Wenzhou's folk culture, tourism resources, economic development, people and traditional food, and facilitating the lives of people abroad and expats in the city.

At the same time, Xu embarked on a tour in August in European cities with large Chinese population and held in-depth talks with government officials and Chinese compatriots there.

"The visits received warm responses from European governments and next year, we plan to visit more countries and regions in the hope of building more international connections," Xu said.