Exports to Africa Keep a Steady Pace

With the increasing economic and trade exchanges between Yiwu and Africa, Africa has become one of the most important export destinations of Yiwu market. According to Yiwu Customs, Yiwu’s exports to Africa reached 34.75 billion yuan in the first seven months of this year, an increase of more than 10% year on year, accounting for 24% of Yiwu’s total foreign trade exports.

Zhang Hua is the operator of Yiwu International Trade City. Recently, he was delighted to discover that there was a popular LED lamp in South Africa, with customers placing orders from 100 sets in the past to 5,000 sets now. According to Zhang Hua, small commodities in Yiwu are very popular in African market, and African business in his company has increased from 5% to 60%, with buyers from South Africa, Angola and Ethiopia and countries along the “Belt and Road”.

Yiwu is closely related with Africa. In recent years, Yiwu has welcomed a number of African businessmen with a dream of “gold rushing”. From purchasing small commodities in Yiwu to establishing a foreign trade company in Yiwu, they not only had a prosperous career, but also lived a colorful life. Ahmed from Sudan is one of them. Besides doing business in Yiwu, he also introduced Yiwu friends to do business in Sudan. Ahmed is convinced that Yiwu is a “bridge” between China and Africa, through which China can better understand Africa.

Ahmad is only one of the many African businessmen who come to “dream”. Amar, from Yemen, abandoned business for medical treatment and enthusiastically received patients from home and abroad; Sura, a businessman from Mali, spent 18 years in Yiwu, where her daughter made to actor in the movie “Warwolf 2”; Samuel, from Ethiopia, who settled in Yiwu with his family, was preparing to buy a house here……Yiwu has become the best place for more and more Africans to chase their dreams.

According to statistics, there are more than 2,500 permanent foreign businessmen here in Yiwu from more than 50 African countries and regions, as well as more than 95,000 inbound African businessmen every year. Egypt and Algeria are among the top ten export destination countries of Yiwu. Yiwu mainly exports labor-intensive products to Africa, such as mechanical and electrical products, plastic products, clothing shoes and hats.

At the same time, China’s huge consumption market has also brought business opportunities to African commodities. From tea to diamonds, from wood carvings to ox horn decorations, shelves of “African Products Exhibition Center” in Yiwu Import Commodity City displayed all kinds of African specialties. Luo Lingjuan, head of the South African Pavilion, has been doing business in South Africa since 2013. In recent years, with the rise of domestic import trade, she took the opportunity to bring South Africa’s goods and culture to Yiwu. She believes that the future import trade is not only the circulation of goods, but also the development of import trade led by culture.

“African Products Exhibition and Marketing Center” in Yiwu Import Commodity City has become a gathering place for large number of African merchants to display and sell products with African characteristics. There are dozens of pavilions in South Africa, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Sudan, Kenya and other countries, mainly dealing in ebony products, handicrafts, jewelry and other more than 5000 kinds of African goods. “Made in Africa” sells its goods to the world through the bridge of Yiwu market.