The 26th CIFIT Held in Xiamen, Daryl Tan Hosts Overseas Chinese Talent Salon on Cultural Tourism

SilkRoadNewsAgency，From September 7 to 11, 2026, the 26th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) grandly opened in Xiamen, Fujian Province. As an important supporting activity of the fair, the “Overseas Chinese Talent Salon (Cultural Tourism Session)” was successfully held on the afternoon of September 7, gathering nearly 200 distinguished guests and representatives from overseas Chinese and cultural circles to discuss cultural tourism innovation and overseas Chinese empowerment.

Hosted by Daryl Tan (Chen Ming), Executive Chairman at lmpact of Asia Limited, Honorary President of the Xiamen Overseas Chinese Chamber of Commerce, and great-grandson of the patriotic overseas Chinese leader Tan Kah Kee, the event invited industry experts and scholars to deliver in-depth sharing on the upgrading of Xiamen’s cultural tourism industry, the empowerment of overseas Chinese resources, innovative integration of culture and tourism, and cross-border cultural tourism cooperation. The salon broadened horizons, built communication channels, and consolidated consensus for overseas Chinese merchants to participate in Xiamen’s cultural tourism development.

In his speech, Daryl Tan expressed great honor and profound significance in hosting the event in Xiamen. He recalled that more than a century ago, his great-grandfather Tan Kah Kee departed from Xiamen for Southeast Asia. Devoting his life to education development, public welfare causes and community communication, Tan Kah Kee laid a solid foundation for China-foreign exchanges, hometown development and overseas community construction.

Returning to his ancestral hometown as a Singaporean descendant of Tan Kah Kee, Daryl Tan emphasized that overseas Chinese youth in the new era shoulder unique historical missions. Inheriting the spirit of Tan Kah Kee is not only remembering history and ancestors’ achievements, but also endowing the century-old overseas Chinese spirit with new-era connotations.

He pointed out that true inheritance connects the past, the present and the future. Centering on Xiamen’s cultural tourism upgrading, international inbound tourism development and the bridging value of global overseas Chinese communities, the session fully demonstrated the unique role of overseas Chinese in linking China, Southeast Asia and the world. The century-long exchanges in humanity, education and culture between Singapore and Xiamen stand as a vivid testimony of profound cross-generation friendship and interconnected people-to-people bonds.

Daryl Tan stated that overseas Chinese communities in the new era will continue to carry forward the spirit of Tan Kah Kee. Rooted in cultural communication and overseas Chinese friendship, they will keep telling vivid stories of Xiamen to the world, promote high-level opening-up and international cooperation in cultural tourism, and build closer, lasting and diversified connections between Xiamen and the global community.