International buyers at a shop of artificial flowers in the Yiwu International Trade City, the largest wholesale market complex in China, in Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang province, on Jan 12. SHI BUFA/FOR CHINA DAILY
Ten years ago, Spanish young man Jesus Garcia used his university graduation scholarship to buy a plane ticket to China, set on winning the heart of a young Chinese woman, Yang Saijun.
That same year, 2014, the first China-Europe freight train departed from Yiwu — where Garcia made a home for himself — heading to Spain, connecting China's largest small commodity market with the Spanish capital, Madrid, Europe's largest such hub.
Indian traders with their children play with a bubble machine in the market in Yiwu in June. SHI BUFA/FOR CHINA DAILY
Today Garcia and Yang, now married, run an import business in Yiwu, using the rail link to carry Spanish wine and ham to China. At the start they were dispatching two or three containers a year to China, and that has since risen to 60 or 70.
With improved logistics provided by the rail link, Spanish products such as red wine, olive oil and ham, as well as Chinese staples, mechanical appliances and other equipment have gained easier access to both markets.
International students learn live commerce at the cross-border e-commerce industrial park in Yiwu in April. SHI BUFA/FOR CHINA DAILY
Yiwu, which enjoys its reputation as the world's supermarket and a key supplier for Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms, is now about to launch a new round of international trade reforms aimed at strengthening its role in global commerce.
The hub, promoting Belt and Road collaboration and high-quality development of the China-Europe freight train network, will further contribute to advancing China's dual circulation strategy, which integrates domestic and global markets and supports efforts to build China into a strong trading nation, according to the plan published last month.
International buyers in front of a shop of children's bikes in the Yiwu International Trade City, the largest wholesale market complex in China in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, on Jan 12. SHI BUFA/FOR CHINA DAILY
Yiwu's Global Digital Trade Center, which draws on artificial intelligence and digital tools to improve core trade elements, such as supply chains, logistics and markets, is due to open its market section for trial operations in October 2025.
An Iraqi businessman negotiates with the Chinese shop owner in the market in Yiwu on Jan 12. SHI BUFA/FOR CHINA DAILY
Millions of packages
The city now serves more than 200 countries and attracts nearly 600,000 international traders a year. Thirty million packages are shipped out every day on average, supporting 2.1 million small and medium-sized businesses across China and creating 32 million jobs.
In the first 11 months of last year Yiwu's imports and exports were worth 614 billion yuan ($84 billion), surpassing the total value of trade, 566 billion yuan, for all of 2023 and setting a record.
International buyers at a shop of cookwares in the market in Yiwu on Dec 11. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY
Today more than 21,000 merchants from more than 100 countries and regions live and work in Yiwu, which boasts more than 40 international restaurants owned by foreigners. One standout is Beyti Restaurant, a popular Arab establishment and said to have been the city's first foreign-owned eatery.
Mohanad Shalabi, a Jordanian who opened Beyti in 2002, says he has spent fewer than three months away from Yiwu since then, he thus considers the city his home, and, like Garcia, has a Chinese wife.
Chinese traders learn English and take notes near the Yiwu International Trade City in May. SHI KUANBING/FOR CHINA DAILY
His restaurant, which started out as a 70-80 square meter space, has now expanded to 1,600 square meters, occupying a prime location in the heart of the city.
In 2012 the local government set up a one-stop international trade service center to handle all foreign-related businesses, greatly improving the governance of these entities.
A Turkish barber in Yiwu on Wednesday. SHI BUFA/FOR CHINA DAILY
A few years later the local government began issuing foreign merchant cards to foreign business people in the city, an idea Shalabi says he had advocated. The card allows holders to enjoy the benefits that Chinese nationals in the city enjoy, including pensions, healthcare, children's education and other social services, according to People's Daily.
Arabian traders in Yiwu gather at a local cafe on Jan 15. SHI BUFA/FOR CHINA DAILY
Shalabi says that Yiwu has allowed him to realize his Chinese dream, something he says is the right of everyone to pursue no matter where they are from, and that the Belt and Road Initiative is helping in the realization of that dream.
An Egyptian restaurant in Yiwu on Jan 15. SHI BUFA/FOR CHINA DAILY
Beyti, an Arabic word meaning my home, symbolizes how Yiwu has become a new domicile for merchants from all over the world, Shalabi says.
A Moroccan businessman at a cafe in Yiwu on Jan 15. SHI BUFA/FOR CHINA DAILY
"Yiwu is my home, and I want to do something for it." He sees the Chinese dream as a sweet flower, he says.
"When the flower blossoms, everyone can enjoy its lingering fragrance."
Agencies contributed to this story.
houchenchen@chinadaily.com.cn
