China's emerging middle class is not just important to its own economy but is also a global phenomenon.
Sam Li, a senior manager with a US multinational company in Beijing, says the term middle class is a European and US concept that does not really apply in China.
In China, the arrival of the Lunar New Year is often associated with change, and as the nation prepares to usher in the Year of the Snake, Africa may well be the word Chinese exporters use most to describe trade prospects for the coming 12 months. Africa assumes such importance not only because of growing bilateral trade, but also because of continuing uncertainty about Chinese exports in developed markets.
More tough times seem to be in the offing for Chinese exporters associated with traditional manufacturing industries, as the uncertain global economic recovery has triggered increased risks like stiff competition in emerging markets and dwindling demand in developed markets.
Even as the Chinese government came out with a better-than-anticipated economic report card for 2012, several industry experts expressed concerns over the flagging performance of the country's key growth indicators.
China's trade with Africa is scaling new peaks and likely to have surpassed $200 billion last year. The saying is: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
Prospects bright for further growth in China-Africa trade
Rich and poor, from far and wide, migrants have turned a small Chinese city into business hub with indelible links to Africa.
Few people would include Yiwu International Trade City when asked to name the top 10 biggest shopping malls in the world.
While working as a scholar in Cape Verde more than a decade ago, Heidi Haugen, a sociologist, began noticing a strange increase in the number of Chinese business owners cropping up around the country.
As China and Africa have drawn more closely to one another over the past 12 years, an increasing number of Chinese have visited and settled in the continent. At the same time, more and more Africans have visited and settled in China. I reckon that there are now about 2 million Chinese in Africa and 500,000 Africans in China.
City's Africa success story has been a long time in the making
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