Guangzhou's 'little Africa' As one of the world's top ten busiest ports, and China's main port connecting Africa, thousands of containers leave Guangzhou for Africa every day. They may be sailing an ancient route, but the cargo has never been more essential to today's world.

Guangzhou, a mega-city of fourteen million, is known for many things: it's been a major trade port for centuries and it's now China's leading manufacturing hub.

Twice a year, tens of thousands of people from Africa and around the world descend on the Canton Fair - the 60-year-old iconic Chinese trade show where just about everything is for sale. With its long-established international reputation, and expansive facility, the fair is more than a little impressive. The Canton Fair may be the world's largest trade show. You can order a container full of television sets, fun things to ride, car parts or irons. You can have your own invention custom-made by the hundreds of willing wholesalers representing factories around China.

This is the district of Sanyuanli, Guangzhou, one of the first cities to open for international business in China in the 1980s. Amir Akoud first came to the Canton Fair 15 years ago. He soon realized that to take advantage of opportunities he had to move to Guangzhou. He's lived here for eight years.

AMIR AKOUD SUDANESE ENTREPRENEUR "First time I came to China I did battery and sent many things to Sudan. I have customers from Africa, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, many, many countries like this."

For Amir, the Canton Fair is only the jumping off point. He's opened his own import-export shop where he works year-round buying and shipping all sorts of products from factories around the province. His partner in business, and in life, is his wife Cynthia Huang.

CYNTHIA HUANG ENTREPRENEUR "In China (there are) many things, even big things, small things, middle things, many can be produced. And the prices are very good, so that's why so many Africans come to China."

Going for a stroll in this bustling neighborhood you'd be forgiven for thinking you were in some culturally-rich African city. But this is Xiaobei Lu, otherwise known as Little Africa in the heart of Guangzhou. Some 16,000 Africans live and work or go to school in the subtropical city where the climate reminds them of home. It is one of the largest African communities in Asia.

(Sarah: My name is Sarah, I'm from South Sudan. I came here in 2014.)

Sarah Amal has been studying at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies for three years. She's adapted well to the local lifestyle.

SARAH AMAL SOUTH SUDANESE STUDENT "I came here first to Guangzhou with my mother, because she was doing business here. And I started seeing the environment, everything was so interesting. My major is business. Because I wanted to stay in China, so I said, let me start from the Chinese language, so I can communicate with people."

The younger generation from Africa is finding China increasingly appealing. There are about fifty thousand African students in China, more than in the US or the UK. For them, China means affordable education, new language skills and above all, business connections.

SARAH AMAL SOUTH SUDANESE STUDENT "As we know the name of "Made in China," people would think of a lot of things. But they need to come to China, because if they know there are a lot of factories that make the stuff for other countries in China, but in the far big names, the name of something. So it depends on the quality. So it depends on what you take, it doesn't mean 'Made in China' (is) bad quality."

Maggie Pan is the managing director at a multi-million-dollar battery factory. She's planning a trans-Africa business trip next month, but right now she needs to quickly win the trust of potential buyers visiting Guangzhou.

MAGGIE PAN, MANAGING DIRECTOR AOKLY POWER "You have to give them more than just a price offer. Otherwise, they'd simply expect 'Made in Europe' to be 10 dollars, 'Made in Korea,' 8 dollars, 'Made in Indonesia,' 6 dollars, and 'Made in China,' 5. This is how the bargaining would end up."

Maggie Pan had the foresight to explore business opportunities in Africa years ago. She's turned herself into a hard-nosed business negotiator and a gracious host to African buyers and delegations. These are a few of the people making the "China-Africa phenomenon" work in the southern port city of Guangzhou. They're the ones placing orders that help fill the thousands of containers that leave China every day.