Worry-free space puts traders at ease

A businesswoman from Cameroon in traditional costume tries to attract customers at the Yiwu International Trade Mart. [Photo/Xinhua]

An international trade market is keen to attract African businesses

It is the kind of worry-free holiday most business owners can only dream of: African entrepreneurs setting up shop in Yiwu International Trade Mart, Zhejiang province, enjoy a three-year break from paying rent.

The local municipal government that grants the break also offers the Africans free business advice.

Zhu Xiamomei of Yiwu's Foreign and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office says the rent waiver, which aims to promote African exports to China, was introduced three years ago. This means that those who first took up the offer now face the prospect of having to fend for themselves in paying for space.

Jamil Moshi, a Tanzanian who has a booth that sells luxury goods such as jewelry, says his rent-free period ends this year, after which he will have to pay 15,000 yuan ($2,400) a month for 100 square meters.

"The business can afford to pay rent now," Moshi says, adding that having the booth has given his export and import business the support it needs.

Moshi was recently looking forward to the National Day holiday week because the business is highly seasonal and sells more during holidays, he says. He employs a Chinese woman as a sales assistant.

There are about 30 African booths in the market, mainly selling wooden artifacts and jewelry.

Omar Sall, a stallholder from Senegal, says his business was slow at first because Chinese generally do not appreciate the differences between wooden artifacts from different parts of Africa.

"Most of our buyers are not locals, but are from Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. But we are making inroads every day. I think we can support ourselves when the three-year grace period is up."

Zhu Hanqun, who sells gemstones from Tanzania, says many of those who buy tanzanite, which is particular to the city of Arusha, are young people who regard the blue-violet stone as a good luck charm. Zhu, who used to sell tanzanite in Tanzania, says a small stone can sell for as much as 4,200 yuan.

Fan Kaihui of InAfrica Corporation says business is picking up for wine from South Africa and jade decorations from Madagascar.

The Yiwu market, set up in 1982, has 75,000 booths covering 5.5 million square meters, and it is said to attract an average of 210,000 sellers and buyers a day.

It has been estimated that if one visited each booth for three minutes and spent eight hours a day in the market, it would take a visitor 15 months to make a complete tour.