By Liu Lingling, Bai Ziwei, Liu Junguo, People’s Daily
Yiwu, a city in east China’s Zhejiang province，is neither a coastal hub nor a border town. Yet it has built a trade network that reaches across the globe. Today, the city is home to more than 10,000 foreign-invested businesses and around 38,000 foreign merchants who live and work there.
People’s Daily reporters recently visited Yiwu to meet foreign entrepreneurs who have built successful businesses and settled down in the city. They shared stories of growing alongside Yiwu and becoming part of its remarkable transformation.
“I wouldn’t be where I am today without Yiwu,” said Senegalese businessman Sourakhata Tirera, a sentiment he often expresses. He first came to Yiwu in 2003 to source hardware products and was immediately impressed by the Yiwu International Trade Market. He noted, “If you can’t find something here, it’s probabaly because you haven’t searched carefully enough.”
In 2007, Tirera opened a foreign trade agency in Yiwu. In 2012, leveraging Yiwu’s comprehensive foreign trade pilot reform project, he established a wholly foreign-owned trading company. Today, his company ships 200 to 300 containers every month, dealing in more than 1,000 product categories and providing one-stop sourcing services for clients across Africa.
“Everyone is fascinated by Yiwu because it’s a plcae full of opportunities. Things that once seemed impossible can become reality here,” Tirera told People’s Daily after he finished receiving a trade delegation from Gabon.
Yemeni businessman Maged Mohammed Ali Al-Huraibi came to Yiwu alone in 2008 to pursue his entrepreneurial dream and founded a cosmetics trading company. In 2024, Yiwu launched a one-stop entrepreneurship service for foreign talent, offering factory leasing, policy consultation, and talent recruitment. Seizing the opportunity, Al-Huraibi invested in a cosmetics factory early that year, successfully transitioning from trader to manufacturer.
“Yiwu made my entrepreneurial dream come true. Now I want to bring cosmetics made in Yiwu to even more countries and regions around the world,” Al-Huraibi said.
Yiwu’s success is not simply about gathering products. More importantly, it comes from the city’s ability to create what the market needs — pioneering new approaches where none exist and forging new paths through continuous exploration.
Nepalese businessman Khadka Raj Kumar first came to Yiwu in 2002. In 2011, Yiwu pioneered a dual-track system for representative offices and foreign-invested business entities, addressing challenges related to residency, employment and business operations for foreign entrepreneurs. The following year, Kumar established his own trading company in Yiwu and later bought a home there.
In 2013, Yiwu established China’s first people’s mediation committee dedicated to foreign-related disputes, inviting foreign businesspeople to serve as mediation process. Kumar has served in this role since 2017 and has participated in resolving more than 150 foreign-related disputes.
“In Yiwu, we’re not outsiders — we’re part of the local community,” he said.
As Yiwu’s sixth-generation marketplace, the Yiwu Global Digital Trade Center marks the city’s transition from traditional trade to a digital trade ecosystem.
Pakistani businessman Sheikh Jamil, who has operated in Yiwu for 21 years, has witnessed this transformation firsthand. According to him, more and more business is now conducted online. With the help of AI, he can quickly generate product solutions tailored to different market demands. “I can do business with the whole world without leaving my office,” he said.
Yemeni businessman Hasan Mohammed entered Yiwu’s cosmetics business as a distributor a decade ago. In 2018, he registered his own cosmetics brand in Saudi Arabia. With its products registered in Saudi Arabia, manufactured in China and sold worldwide, his business model delivers both high-quality products and a strong competitive edge.
“Yiwu is more like an ecosystem where ideas can quickly become reality. It offers not only opportunities, but also the potential for continuous growth,” said Mohammed.
For Brazilian businesswoman Ana Garcia, Yiwu’s transformation from “Made in Yiwu” to “Created in Yiwu” has been fueled by broad support in branding, digital innovation and global expansion. She founded a business consultancy that helps overseas clients identify market opportunities and sourcing needs, connect with qualified suppliers, and manage every step of the supply chain — from product selection and quality inspection to logistics and customs clearance.
Yiwu belongs not only to China, but also to the world. Together with entrepreneurs from around the globe, the city will continue turning the impossible into the possible, further burnishing its reputation as the “world’s supermarket” and ensuring that products created in Yiwu benefit people in more countries.
