Home in Yiwu: Foreign traders in Yiwu share China experiences

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By integrating itself into the global economy, the eastern Chinese city of Yiwu has made itself an open and highly international city. With a larger foreign community than Chinese cities twice its size, many who have moved here say they're not going anywhere else. CGTN's Xu Mengqi talks to some of Yiwu's foreign traders for their experience of the city.

When Marinella Fortino first came to Yiwu in November of 2017, she knew she wanted to start her own trade business, buying from China, and selling to Europe.

But what she didn't foresee, was that almost two years later, this city would become her home away from home.

MARINELLA FORTINO TRADER FROM GERMANY "In the beginning, it was a culture shock for me to be here. It was not easy to find products, I wanted to eat, like we didn't have H&M. We didn't have Zara, I needed to travel to Hangzhou or Shanghai to buy things."

Known as the world's capital of small commodities, Yiwu attracts more than 550,000 traveling merchants from overseas every year, and over 13,000 of them are residents in the city, according to Yiwu officials.

MARINELLA FORTINO TRADER FROM GERMANY "For the business, sure, it's the best place. You get help from everywhere. There's no headache to find the perfect tax lawyer or accounting person for example."

XU MENGQI YIWU, ZHEJIANG "Business, however, isn't all there is for foreign traders in Yiwu. Here in the city, you'll find expat communities have a quite exciting social life as well. And for many, Yiwu has become a real home."

34-year-old Venezuelan Ali Sahili, for one, did not hesitate to tell me that it was love at first sight for him and Yiwu.

ALI SAHILI INTERNATIONAL TRADER IN YIWU "A place like Yiwu, I mean, you can find people from everywhere. I'm talking about islands in the Pacific, places you can't imagine. It's really unique."

Having just had a baby, Sahili says his next goal is to buy a house in Yiwu and settle down.

Fortino, on the other hand, has decided to open another office back in Europe and make Yiwu her base in China.

MARINELLA FORTINO TRADER FROM GERMANY "It's like yeah, my home. You have your restaurants where you go, you have your friends whom you hang out in the weekend, you have your working biz partner, you have your office, you have your employees here."

For a home away from home, foreign traders in Yiwu say the city has its unique charm.

XMQ, CGTN, Yiwu, in Zhejiang province.