An industrial park that has become an African showcase - Ethiopia's Eastern Industry Zone - started with a man from China's Jiangsu province who had a pipe dream.
A 100 trillion banknote in the now defunct Zimbabwean dollar became a symbol of this nation's hyperinflation-wracked economy several years ago, but Chinese companies see this country as a potential industrial giant waiting for takeoff.
The most recent financial crisis has forced African governments to look for alternatives to attract capital, investors and businesses to boost their economies in order to sustain growth and improve the lives of all Africans. The introduction of special economic zones into the continent was one such alternative.
Since China's reform and opening up began 35 or so years ago, huge changes have taken place in the way the country's companies are run.
For Zhou Hongyi, China's smartphone market is like "an ocean of blood", and yet it is an ocean he is happy to dive into. "I'm getting into this because I believe you can shake up any market, and those at the top cannot stay there forever," says Zhou, founder and CEO of Qihoo 360 Technology Co Ltd.
He stood there looking for all the world like Steve Jobs - garbed in black T-shirt, blue jeans and holding his company's latest gadget.
Four years ago China overtook the United States as the world's No 1 smartphone market. Now the Chinese market is reaching saturation point, with about nine out of 10 mobile phones sold in 2014 being a smartphone.
It is likely domestic smartphone brands such as Huawei will one day be able to challenge the likes of Samsung and Apple in global sales. But before that can happen - and it is still probably at least five years off - Chinese smartphone makers will need to do a lot to become global brands.
"I can't see any ghosts," exclaims Mel Lome, as he looks down out of his 29th-floor offices in Landmark Plaza over Zhengdong New District, the new part of Henan province's capital Zhengzhou.
Zhengdong New District, a new area built in east Zhengzhou, is witnessing an influx of enterprises to expel the "ghosts", including some emerging and trendy businesses such as e-commerce and retail.
Zhou Dingyou insists Zhengzhou was in danger of coming to a gridlocked standstill if planners had not built a new area of the city.
A ghost city is "an abandoned city with depleted resources, a high vacancy rate, few inhabitants, or that is dark at night" due to a lack of occupants, according to China's National Science and Technology Department's Terminology Committee.
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