'100 yuan stores'
A small store brand is becoming increasingly prevalent on Spanish streets. Mostly operated by Chinese, the stores are called Hiper 0.6 Euros, equivalent to 60 euro cents (69 US cents), the equivalent of 100 pesetas, the currency Spain used before the country adopted the euro in 2002.
However, the local Chinese often refer to them as "100 yuan stores". Dong's sister, Dong Ruoshuang, who lives in the city with her husband and son, started a 100 yuan store－open from 9 am until 9 pm－in downtown Valencia in 2001.
Sales assistant Adriana Fernandes used to be a university teacher in Slovenia, but the 30-something has worked at the store for six months since returning to Spain so her son can study in their home country.
"Local residents, especially seniors, like shopping here because it's only a short distance from their homes," she said. "Goods from China are always much cheaper than those from other places, but the quality has risen a lot in recent years."
Martinez and his wife held a similar view. Though they worked as sales assistants at Carrefour for 17 years, they still make a 20-minute drive to Hiper Number One to shop every week rather than visiting their former employer.
"In fact, there's a Carrefour near the store. We worked at Carrefour for many years and know it well," Martinez said. "Compared with Chinese goods, the products are more expensive at Carrefour, but the quality of Chinese-made goods has overtaken those at Carrefour in recent years."
MV Cosco Netherlands, which set sail from Qingdao Port in the eastern province of Shandong in late July, is owned by China Cosco Shipping Group, which has the largest comprehensive cargo capacity in the world.
Back in Yiwu, a number of workers were loading containers that would be sent to the nearest sea port－Ningbo-Zhoushan Port in Zhejiang－to be loaded onto the next container vessel to sail.
They were employed by Zhejiang Sunshine Logistics Corp, one of the biggest export agents in Yiwu, which is responsible for loading containers for groups such as Cosco Shipping, Maersk and other major companies.
According to Zhejiang Sunshine, the volume of cargo it handles reached about 50,160 TEUs last year, double the figure in 2014.
"Nearly 60 percent of the goods were shipped to regions along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, including Southeast Asia, West Africa and Europe," said Yang Xiangfei, the company's general manager. "Europe has long been one of our major markets."
