From Guangzhou to Nairobi, making dreams a reality

Updated: Sep 6, 2018 Xinhua Print

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Mouhamadou Moustapha Dieng, a Senegalese businessman who has been living in Guangzhou for 16 years, plans to set up a packaging factory in Senegal.

Dieng's idea is to set up a processing factory in Senegal by importing a production line from China. The reason is simple: to ensure that the seafood and agricultural products that cannot be exported now due to a lack of processing capability reach the Chinese market in time.

Research by the Guangdong government has found that smaller retail businesses dominated Guangzhou's markets involving African buyers 10 years ago. Today, the percentage has dropped to 15 percent, while more than 60 percent of procurement by African businesspersons is done in bulk purchases.

"That is to say, China-Africa trade is becoming more standardized," said Liu Jisen from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.

According to Chinese customs statistics, the volume of trade between China and Africa reached nearly 100 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of the year, an increase of 17.3 percent.

Dieng said he is very interested in measures proposed by the Chinese government to bolster China-Africa economic and trade cooperation. He hopes the upcoming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing will bring the two partners closer together.

Dieng added that he plans to send his 17-year-old son, who is learning Chinese in a Confucius Institute in Senegal, to study at a Chinese university.

Like Dieng, Zhu Layi, the founding president of the Africa-Guangdong Business Association, also has high expectation for the upcoming summit.

These days, Zhu is involved in the construction of the Ogun-Guangdong Free Trade Zone, a park located in Ogun State of Nigeria in West Africa, and Kenya's Pearl River Special Economic Zone in East Africa. He also plans to set up an African business school.

"In the future, more ordinary people will be involved in and benefit from China-Africa cooperation," said Liu Jisen. "The Chinese dream and the African dream will be more deeply integrated."