Life and business flourish in a place

Guangzhou shapes up as a world city where cultures meet

In the 1980s it was difficult to find an African who lived in China. At the time the country seemed far flung and barely accessible. Furthermore, barriers such as language and culture kept it closed to the world. In this regard, the Cold War did little to help. China's politics were far to the left, and Western-leaning countries discouraged their citizens from exploring China. It was considered a poor Third World country with very little to offer outsiders.

In China, little was done to encourage its citizens to know the world, and many spent their lives with limited knowledge of what lay beyond their borders.

Three decades later the world has changed drastically and the country has become cosmopolitan. It seems no one in the world can wait to explore China's breadth and depth, and these days you can find Chinese people all over the world. Foreigners now speak Mandarin and the Chinese education system long ago threw open its doors to English lessons. China and Africa now enjoy particularly good relations in which migration of their people in both directions is encouraged.

The city of Guangzhou, a city to which several African airlines such as Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines have direct flights, now hosts the largest number of Africans living in China.

Many of the Africans who go to Guangzhou are merchants. They go there to buy Chinese goods in demand back home and ship them back to Africa.

They have made dependable friends in business. There is a well trodden route plied by African businesspeople that takes them to Nantian, 30 kilometers southeast of Guangzhou; Foshan, 35 kilometers southwest, and other cities. But if you really want to find a lot of African businesspeople, the place to go is Xiaobei, in the heart of Guangzhou's shopping district.

There is a well-established network of intermediaries in the city who link merchants to the market and who track down dependable and affordable shipping services. They make a living out of knowing Guangzhou and its environs well, and they, more than anyone else, are the key to the China-Africa trade.

Guangzhou is a marketplace of many shades. There are very expensive brands available that are of high quality. However, many African merchants do not care about brands. They target unbranded, cheap goods that are also on offer in Guangzhou. These goods include clothes, electronics and electrical appliances. It is for this reason that many people in Africa believe that Chinese goods are of low quality.

There is no racial discrimination to speak of in China. What exists are cultural barriers that are difficult to break, although there is increasing intermarriage between Africans and Chinese. However, Chinese law does not offer citizenship rights to spouses of Chinese nationals. This, sadly, together with the very restrictive visas regime in China does not support longevity of this institution.

Since 1949 religion has been frowned upon in China. There is now a rising number of Chinese Christians thanks to the African communities who carry religion with them on their voyage. The strong religious commitment many Africans have draws them together, and draws some Chinese closer to their African brothers and sisters.

The presence of Africans in Guangzhou has contributed to the kind of city it is today. Without African merchants it would not quite be the vibrant city it has become, and of course Guangzhou, for its part, provides many Africans with their livelihoods.

Africa has a dependable manufacturing base in China. The people of China benefit from the open nature of Africans, and this interaction is eliminating barriers.

In years to come, I believe Guangzhou will not be just a Chinese city but a world city.

The author is a former Kenyan ambassador to China.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 05/01/2015 page9)