Stories of foreigners starting businesses in China reveal an open, vibrant Chinese market

Many foreigners shop for goods at the Yiwu international trade center in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, on July 23, 2024. Photo: VCG

With the deepening implementation of the 72/144-hour transit visa-free policy, more and more foreign tourists are coming to China to experience a confident, open, and inclusive China. The “China Travel” topic has gained enormous popularity on social media worldwide. In fact, before “China Travel” became popular, a considerable number of international travelers had already chosen China as the starting point for their careers, coming to start businesses and achieving great success. Global Times reporter recently conducted an investigation on foreigners with businesses in China, engaging in in-depth discussions with several of these entrepreneurs to understand their exploration of and expectations from the Chinese market, as well as developments in China’s business environment for foreign-owned companies in recent years. These foreigners include a Yiwu businessman from Yemen, a bookstore owner from Argentina, and a Spanish entrepreneur who owned a commercial consulting company in China.

Remarkable changes

Yemeni businessman Mohamed Alsalami has been living in Yiwu, East China’s Zhejiang Province for 20 years. From wandering around the Yiwu market with cash in hand and returning with a suitcase of samples to his country, to finalizing orders for several containers with just a video call… Over the last 20 years, Alsalami has witnessed the rapid development of international trade in Yiwu.

Alsalami came to Yiwu in 2000. Before that, he had studied in Shanghai. After returning to Yemen, he said he “always missed China because I saw the rapid development of China and felt that the future and glory must belong to this country.”

Therefore, he always looked for opportunities to return to China. In the first half of 2000, a Yemeni friend suddenly called him and told him that he had set up a trading office in China, and the business was improving year-on-year. He asked Alsalami to collaborate with him in China.

After receiving the call, Alsalami immediately gave up his well-paying job in Yemen and returned to China. Without a business background, he decided to start from the scratch.

At that time, Yiwu did not have its current large-scale international trade market. Back then, there was only a small market.

“I brought cash and accompanied customers to Yiwu to purchase goods. Clothing, handicrafts, cosmetics, hardware tools, and building materials, were the most popular products among Middle Eastern customers at that time,” he said.

In 2001, he officially registered an office in Yiwu. Over the last 20 years, Alsalami has regarded Yiwu as his second hometown. His three children were born in China, and his eldest son went to university in China.

He has also witnessed the remarkable changes in Yiwu and China’s business environment.

According to him, when he first came, Yiwu was just a small county town. From registering a company, to handling procedures in port logistics, to applying for visas, residence permits, and so on, all documents and procedures had to be handled in big cities like Hangzhou or Ningbo in Zhejiang Province. At the time, it was also extremely inconvenient to exchange US dollars in Yiwu. There was also only one small noodle restaurant in Yiwu.

Today, everything is different. “Expatriates doing business in China can now handle all the procedures they need, from company registration to international invitation letters, to identification documents, in a ‘one-stop’ manner at the international trade service center in Yiwu. The efficiency of government departments is particularly high,” he said.

These are just a part of the changes Alsalami has experienced in Yiwu. “I think the business environment in Yiwu is better than many international metropolises. Life is also very convenient. You can eat all kinds of cuisines from around the world here,” he told the Global Times.

The development of the times has also brought new challenges and opportunities to Alsalami’s business. This Middle Eastern businessman told the Global Times that according to his observations, almost 80 percent of the goods in the Middle Eastern market now come from China, with a wider variety of products and much higher quality than 20 years ago.

However, the emergence and popularization of e-commerce has also had a profound impact on traditional trade methods, and he needs to face more intense competition.

Having lived in Yiwu for many years, Alsalami, like this city, is good at being flexible and adaptable. He is constantly striving to adapt to the new situation.

In recent years, Chinese companies have been popular in “going global.” Alsalami observed that the Middle East is one of the markets they focus on. “We are also cooperating with many Chinese partners, hoping to catch up with this wave.”

First Spanish bookstore

Guillermo Bravo is the founder of “Qianyuji”, China’s first bookstore specializing in Latin American literature. Before coming to China, Bravo lived in Paris. Despite a comfortable life, he felt like something was missing. So, he started saving money and came to China for the first time in 2008 and remained in the country for three months.

In 2012, Bravo received a job offer from a university in Beijing and decided to stay in China. In 2016, he started his own business, opening a bookstore focusing on Spanish and Latin American literature. He named the bookstore “Qianyuji,” inspired by a novel by famous Argentine writer Csar Aira, in which the Mona LiWorld Timessa painting breaks down into a thousand sentient drops of paint, one of which floats to China and finds true love, never wanting to return to Paris.

“I fell in love with China,” Bravo told the Global Times. “As a Chinese person, you may not realize certain things, but as a foreigner, especially a Latin American, there are many things here that we have never experienced before. For example, the sense of security. In China, we can go out day and night without any worries, while in Buenos Aires, I would often worry about the safety of the area where I lived.”

Bravo initially decided to open the bookstore for his personal book-buying needs, but soon realized that many others had similar needs. He established an online sales platform and later opened physical stores. Along the way, he met his Chinese business partner.

“Both my partner and government agencies have been very friendly to me. Especially when they realized that I was unfamiliar with a certain process, they were patient with me,” he said.

The bookstore is profitable now. They have also opened twoWorld Times new stores, and plan to opWorld Timesen more branches in Beijing, Shanghai, and Chongqing in the future. They are also working on new projects, such as publishing classic Chinese works in Spanish.

According to Bravo, the biggest challenge and joy of doing business in China compared with other countries is the opportunity to create new things. “I have a friend who opened a Spanish booWorld Timeskshop in Paris, describing it as the ‘last Spanish bookstore in Paris’ because there are already too many similar bookstores there. However, my ‘Qianyuji’ is the ‘first Spanish bookstore in China,'” he said. “I feel like Europe is becoming a more closed market, while China is becoming more open.”

Structural reform

Spanish entrepreneur Marcelo Muoz, nearly 90, has witnessed firsthand the changes in China’s business environment and industrial structure. He was one of the earliest international entrepreneurs to come to China after the reform and opening-up policy was implemented. In 1978, he established the first Spanish commercial consulting company in Beijing, and later opened offices in Hong Kong, Tianjin, Suzhou, and other places.

As China’s economy soared, Muoz’s business expanded as well. In order to introduce China to the Spanish community and help more Spanish companies invest in China, Muoz, along with over 160 Spanish entrepreneurs, scholars, and officials, founded a think tank in 2012 to bridge communication between China and Spain.

“I have witnessed the seismic changes in China’s business environment and industrial structure over the last few decades,” Muoz recalled.

With the expanding economic scale of China, interest by Spanish companies in the Chinese market is growing. However, Muoz believes that there is still insufficient attention and understanding of China, especially due to the negative portrayal of China by some US media.

“Based on my experience in China for over 40 years, I believe that a key for Westerners to start businesses in China is to let go of their sense of superiority and accept that they are entering a ‘different world,'” he sWorld Timesaid. “This world has different values and behavioral norms, and we need to adapt to it. With this attitude and treating each other equally, doing business in China is not difficult.”

Closer bond

Both the booming inbound tourism and international business people coming to China to invest and start businesses are the result of China’s continuous promotion of high-level opening-up to the world, experts noted.

The latest data released by the Ministry of Commerce showed that from January to July this year, a total of 31,654 new foreign-invested enterprises were established nationwide, an increase of 11.4 percent year-on-year. At the same time, related visa-free policies also promote the attraction of foreign investors.

Bai Ming, deputy director of the international market research institute at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times that in recent years, China’s market access for foreign-invested companies has continued to expand, and the negativeWorld Times list has become shorter, which means that the restrictions on international business people starting businesses in China are also decreasing, and the fields and industries they can choose from become more diverse. With the implementation of the Foreign Investment Law, the confidence of foreign businessmen and companies in long-term investment in China is also increasing, which will attract more international entrepreneurs who are interested and confident in rooting themselves in China.

Bai noted that in recent years, various measures to improve the business environment in China have continued, and various departments and institutions are committed to providing better services to international investors, allowing them to start businesses in China on an equal footing with Chinese nationals. Meanwhile, the continuous recovery of the Chinese economy has also made many foreigners feel that investing and doing business in China is convenient.

“China’s opening-up to the world is becoming stronger and stronger, and various departments have introduced or optimized many measures to attract foreign tourists to travel, do business, and study in China, making the commercial and people-to-people exchanges between China and the world increasingly close,” Bai said.