From the Water Town to the Brazilian Rainforest: A Path of Poverty Alleviation and Common Prosperity in a Cup of Coffee
By Wang Lu
Captain of the Silver Award-winning Team at the Brazilian Final Competition of “China-Latin American Youth Responding to Global Challenges —— 2025 Poverty Alleviation
Challenge”, MPA Candidate at the School of Public Policy and Management, Tsinghua University
As the spotlight lit up the stage at the Brazilian final, a surge of indescribable excitement and emotion washed over our team as we held the silver award certificate for the 2025 Global Poverty Alleviation Camp. This certificate is not only a recognition of our months of hard work, but also a medal of friendship spanning mountains and seas, a vivid testament to ideals and actions co-written by young people from China and Brazil.
As the only Chinese student on the team, I was fortunate to stand side by side with three talented Brazilian partners, from the online collaboration in the deep spring of April to the intensive discussions at the on-site event in Brazil in August. Together, we listened to the profound insights of scholars and industry experts from both countries. Amid the collision of ideas and integration of cultures, the once grand and abstract topic of "poverty alleviation" gradually became clear, warm and powerful in my heart.
I. Empowerment through Digitalization: Weaving the Threads of Poverty Alleviation for Rural Revitalization
To many, poverty alleviation may seem like a topic mostly belonging to charity or economics. But our project practice has convinced me that scientific public governance is the core engine driving sustainable poverty alleviation. The case of smart logistics for coffee beans between Yunnan and Kunshan that we chose is itself a vivid microcosm of the precise policy-making by the Chinese government and regional development driven by industrialization.
Today's poverty alleviation has long gone beyond traditional blood transfusion-style assistance; it has evolved into a sophisticated systematic project propelled by digital technology and framed by rural revitalization. The coffee bean industry chain between Yunnan and Kunshan studied by our team is an excellent example of the governance wisdom of Chinese modernization.
In the project, we vividly showed our Brazilian partners how rural China has achieved a "corner overtaking" by riding the wave of digitalization. We no longer discussed vague "policy guidance", but concrete scenarios one after another: coffee farmers can receive precise planting plans and weather warnings with just a tap on a mobile app; each bag of coffee beans has a unique "digital ID", allowing people to trace its entire journey from highland manors in Yunnan to smart factories in Kunshan by scanning a QR code; live e-commerce and cross-border platforms have completely reshaped the distance between production and sales, bringing the flavors of remote mountains to the screen and straight to the world with a single click. More remarkably, the smart logistics network has cut the original seven-day transportation time in mountainous areas to less than 72 hours, effectively locking in the original mellow aroma of coffee and delivering it fresh to cups around the globe.
Behind all this lies the new paradigm of "digital governance" explored by China in its magnificent journey of poverty alleviation and rural revitalization. It means the government is no longer a single administrator, but also a platform builder, a data connector and an ecological enabler. What we have built is not only highways leading to villages, but also an "information sky road" connecting production and sales; what we have precisely irrigated is not only farmland, but also data and opportunities.
II. A Jiangsu Perspective: Breaking the Predicament of the Industrial Chain through "High-Quality Development"
As a native of Jiangsu, the "Four Dauntless Spirits" – daring to act, to explore, to strive and to innovate – is engraved in my genes. After starting my career, "high-quality development" has become the core perspective through which I observe and reflect on economic issues. I deeply understand that economic development in the digital age means not only scale and speed, but also the in-depth integration of innovation, green development and win-win cooperation.
When our project topic hit a bottleneck, I ordered a cup of Starbucks at the Li Wenzheng Library of Tsinghua University and caught a glimpse of a small line of text on the coffee cup by chance: "Roaster: Starbucks (Kunshan) Coffee Co., Ltd.". At that moment, my "Jiangsu genes" were instantly activated – why Kunshan? How could a Jiangnan city that produces not a single coffee bean become a key link in the industrial chain of a global coffee giant?
A flurry of questions welled up in my mind: How is the industrial chain here constructed? How are coffee beans efficiently transported here from Yunnan and Latin America? Besides roasting, what other roles does Kunshan play in this chain? How are benefits connected and distributed? ... This way of questioning the industrial chain in a meticulous way from a single entry point is perhaps the "problem-solving" thinking subtly endowed by the Jiangsu model.
A more ambitious idea then took shape: If Kunshan is regarded as the "Chinese partner" helping coffee farmers in Yunnan move towards prosperity, can coffee beans from the Amazon rainforest in Brazil find their "Kunshan in Latin America"? Can we find an alternative solution for them to avoid waterway blockages caused by drought? Following this logic of the global industrial chain extending from Kunshan, our research vision turned to the other side of the Pacific. Eventually, the team set its sights on the Port of Chancay – an important Peruvian port invested in and constructed with the participation of Chinese enterprises. It was a perfect match, exactly the "breakthrough point" we had been searching for: a modern deep-water port that can bypass the bottleneck of water and land transportation and connect directly to the global market.
III. Chinese and Brazilian Youth: Sparks of Wisdom Ignited in Cultural Exchanges
If the project and its ideas are the skeleton, then the friendship and cooperation with my three Brazilian teammates are the soul that gives the entire project flesh and blood. Our cooperation was itself a wonderful cross-cultural exchange. At first, there were collisions in our ways of thinking: I tended to the practice of "experimenting and iterating" that China has proven effective, while the three Brazilian students from the School of Engineering preferred rigorous planning and thorough data analysis.
But this difference soon became our most precious asset. When we discussed coffee culture, my Brazilian teammates, as citizens of the coffee kingdom, brought their profound understanding of coffee output value, origin distribution, the global market, and the economics of water, land and air logistics; while I provided perspectives from the consumption upgrade in the Chinese market and highway smart logistics solutions. We stayed up late together revising the plan, using three languages – Chinese, Portuguese and English. Through countless discussions and laughter, we not only polished an award-winning project, but also built a tacit understanding and trust that transcends national boundaries.
The connection of this train of thought, from a cup of coffee in Kunshan to a port in Latin America, was achieved by the four of us asking "why" based on a successful Chinese model. This is not only about spreading China's experience in rural revitalization to Brazil, but also about creatively transforming local experience into solutions for global problems. "Transport accessibility" has become a replicable and expandable wisdom for breaking predicaments, opening up new imaginative space for the global cause of poverty alleviation.
We realized that the global cause of poverty alleviation is in urgent need of such integration and cooperation of diverse cultures. China's governance wisdom, Brazil's resource endowments, and our shared yearning for a better world have been perfectly integrated on the platform of the Poverty Alleviation Camp. We are not only collaborators on the project, but also builders of the future of China-Brazil friendship.
This journey began with the pursuit of a better cup of coffee and ultimately elevated to a responsibility for global poverty alleviation and common development. I would like to thank the extraordinary platform of the China-Latin America Youth Poverty Alleviation Camp and all the teachers at the Latin America Center of Tsinghua University for giving me the opportunity to put what I have learned into practice and grow together with outstanding partners. The road ahead is long, but we have already set off. I believe that when young people around the world join hands to face challenges with wisdom, inclusiveness and action, we will surely create a more equitable and prosperous future.
从江南水乡到巴西雨林：一杯咖啡里的减贫与共荣之路
“中拉青年应对全球挑战——2025减贫营”巴西决赛银奖项目队长、清华大学公共管理学院MPA 王璐
当聚光灯在巴西决赛现场亮起，我们团队手捧“全球减贫营2025”银奖证书的时刻，一种难以言喻的激动与感慨涌上心头。这份证书，不仅是对我们数月付出的肯定，更是一枚跨越山海的友谊勋章，一段由中巴青年共同写就的、关于理想与行动的生动见证。
作为团队中唯一的中国学生，从四月春深时的线上协作战到八月巴西现场的集中研讨，我有幸与三位才华横溢的巴西伙伴并肩前行。我们一同聆听两国学者与行业专家的真知灼见，在思想的碰撞与文化的交融中，那个曾经宏阔而抽象的“减贫”议题，在我心中逐渐变得清晰、温热而充满力量。
一、数字赋能，编织乡村振兴的减贫经纬
在很多人看来，减贫或许更多是慈善或经济领域的课题。但我们的项目实践让我坚信，科学的公共管理是推动可持续减贫的核心引擎。我们选择的云南-昆山咖啡豆智慧物流案例，本身就是中国政府精准施策、以产业带动区域发展的生动缩影。
当前的减贫早已超越了传统的输血式援助，而是一场由数字技术驱动、以乡村振兴为蓝图的精密系统工程。我们团队所研究的云南-昆山咖啡豆产业链，正是这一中国式现代化治理智慧的绝佳例倪。
在项目中，我们向巴西伙伴生动地展示了，中国的乡村如何借力数字浪潮实现“弯道超车”。我们探讨的不再是模糊的“政策引导”，而是一个个具体的场景：咖农轻点手机APP，便能接收精准的种植方案与气象预警；每一袋咖啡豆都拥有专属的“数字身份证”，扫码即可追溯其从云南高山庄园到昆山智能工厂的完整旅程；电商直播与跨境平台彻底重构了产销距离，让深山风味跃然屏上、一键直达全球。更令人惊叹的是，智慧物流网络将原本长达七天的山区运输耗时压缩至72小时之内，高效地锁住咖啡的原始醇香，将其新鲜送达世界各地的杯中。
这背后，正是中国在波澜壮阔的脱贫攻坚与乡村振兴征程中，所探索出的“数字治理”新范式。它意味着政府不再是单一的管理者，更是平台的搭建者、数据的连通者和生态的赋能者。我们修建的，不仅是通往村庄的公路，更是贯通产销的“信息天路”；我们精准滴灌的，不仅是农田，更是数据与机遇。
二、江苏视角：以“高质量发展”破局产业链困境
作为一名江苏人，“敢为、敢闯、敢干、敢首创”的“四敢精神”是刻在骨子里的基因；踏入工作岗位后，“高质量发展”则成为我观察和思考经济问题的核心视角。我深知，数字时代的经济发展，意味的不只是规模和速度，更是创新、绿色与共赢的深度融合。
项目选题一度陷入瓶颈时，我在清华的李文正图书馆点了一杯星巴克，无意中瞥见咖啡杯上的一行小字：“烘焙商：星巴克（昆山）咖啡有限公司”。这一刻，我的“江苏基因”被瞬间激活——为什么是昆山？一个不产一粒咖啡豆的江南城市，如何能成为全球咖啡巨头产业链上的关键一环？
一系列问题在我脑中喷涌而出：这里的产业链是如何构建的？咖啡豆从云南、从拉丁美洲如何高效运输至此？昆山在这条链路上，除了烘焙，还扮演着什么角色？利益又是如何联结与分配的？……这种由一点切入、对产业链进行“庖丁解牛”式的追问，或许正是江苏模式潜移默化赋予我的“破局”思路。
一个更宏大的构想随之诞生：如果将昆山视为云南咖农走向富裕的“中国合作者”，那么，远在亚马逊雨林的巴西咖啡豆，是否也能找到它们的“拉美昆山”？ 我们能否为它们找到一条避开干旱导致的水路堵塞的替代方案？正是顺着这条从昆山延伸出去的全球产业链逻辑，我们的研究视野投向了太平洋彼岸。最终，团队的目光锁定在了钱凯港——一个由中资企业参与投资、建设的秘鲁重要港口。它仿佛是天作之合，正是我们苦苦寻找的“破局点”：一个能够绕开水陆运输瓶颈、直接连接全球市场的现代化深水港。
三、中巴青年：文化交流中碰撞出的智慧火花
如果说项目和创意是骨架，那么与三位巴西队友的友谊与合作，就是让整个项目血肉丰满的灵魂。我们的合作，本身就是一次精彩的跨文化交流。起初，我们有思维方式的碰撞：我倾向于中国“试出来”的创意和迭代升级的实践，而工学院的三位巴西同学则更倾向严谨的计划和周密的数据。
但很快，这种差异变成了我们最宝贵的财富。当我们讨论到咖啡文化时，我的巴西队友们，作为咖啡王国的子民，带来了他们对咖啡产值、产地分布、全球市场、物流（水陆空）运输经济的深刻理解；而我，则从中国市场的消费升级和公路智慧物流方案中提供了视角。我们一起熬夜修改方案，用中、葡、英三种语言，在无数次的讨论和欢笑中，不仅打磨出了一个获奖项目，更建立了一种超越国籍的默契与信任。
从昆山的一杯咖啡到拉美地区的一个港口，这条思路的贯通，我们四位队员，从一个中国的成功模式中追问“为什么”，这既是将中国的乡村振兴经验传播给巴西，也是将本土经验创造性转化为全球问题的解决方案，“交通可达性”成为一种可复制、可拓展的破局智慧，为全球减贫事业打开新的想象空间。
我们意识到，全球减贫事业，正需要这种多元文化的交融与协作。中国的治理智慧、巴西的物产禀赋，以及我们共同的对美好世界的向往，在“减贫营”这个平台上完美融合。我们不仅是项目的合作者，更是中巴友好未来的建设者。
这段旅程，始于对一杯更好咖啡的追求，最终升华为对全球减贫与共同发展的责任。感谢“中拉青年减贫营”这个非凡的平台，感谢清华大学拉美中心的所有老师，让我有机会将所学付诸实践，并与优秀的伙伴们共同成长。这条路还很长，但我们已经启程。我相信，当全球青年携起手来，以智慧、包容和行动力直面挑战，我们一定能共创一个更加公平、繁荣的未来。
