Vicky greets customers in Yiwu China Imported Commodities Mall

As the logistics hub of Yiwu’s export, the Yiwu Port exports hundreds of containers to the African continent every day. The statistics of Yiwu’s trade with Africa are as follows: in 2022, Yiwu’s imports and exports to Africa reached 84.02 billion RMB, with a year on year increase of 10.2%. The African continent gradually surpassed Europe, the United States, the Middle East, and South America to become the largest market for Yiwu’s foreign trade. During the past three years of the pandemic, the number of African merchants in Yiwu has maintained its population around 2000. The city plays an important role in Zhejiang’s economic exchanges with Africa.

African Businessmen in Yiwu

In recent years, Yiwu has welcomed a group of African businessmen. They started by purchasing small commodities in Yiwu, then established their own foreign trade companies and built a bridge between Yiwu and Africa for mutual benefit.

Vicky is a businesswoman from Madagascar, whose Chinese name is Meili. As an enthusiastic and generous merchant, she has been in business in Yiwu for 14 years. From a foreign trade saleswoman to an exporter, she now has a new identity, an import trader. In 2009, she came to Yiwu from Madagascar for development. She purchased daily necessities, knitted clothing, hardware accessories, and other products in the Yiwu market and exported them to Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar.

China’s huge consumer market has also brought business opportunities to Africa’s small commodities market. Meili came up with the idea of doing import business, and she received strong support from her family. Now, the Yiwu China Import Commodities City has become a gathering place for many African merchants to display and sell more than 1000 kinds of commodities with African characteristics. These commodities will be sold in China and around the world through Yiwu, the bridgehead of import trade.

Commodities Made in Yiwu Sell Well in Africa

Ethiopia is promoting industrial development and economic restructuring and is committed to becoming the manufacturing center of Africa. During this period, an Ethiopian businessman visited many factories and set about building paper mills and wire factories in Egypt to create more jobs for local people.

In the “Take You to China” Rwanda Trade Service Center in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, various commodities are displayed orderly. Businessmen and customers are in an endless stream of commerce, choosing pots and small household appliances. After receiving the orders, the African merchants will send goods from Yiwu to Rwanda.

Jiang Bu is one of the Rwandan businessmen in Yiwu, and his name was given by his Chinese teacher. Jiang Bu said that Rwandan people like to buy kitchen supplies and hardware tools from Yiwu, such as barbecue machines, air fryers, bathroom accessories, and door locks. (Text & photo by Wu Fengyu, translated by Wei Han, edited by Daniel Haws)