Feature: African entrepreneurs eye opportunities in China's Xiong'an New Area

Release time：2024-05-21 11:02:44 Source：Earthly Edition news portal

XIONG'AN, Hebei Province, April 3 (Xinhua) -- Drawn by the promising prospects in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province, two young African entrepreneurs pioneered establishing companies in this burgeoning locale in February, owing to the high fairness and efficiency.

In April 2017, China decided to establish the Xiong'an New Area, which aims to relieve Beijing of non-essential functions related to its status as the nation's capital, while also advancing the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

After graduation from Dalian Medical University in northeast China's Liaoning Province, Omane Vincent Kwakye moved to Xiong'an about three weeks ago, hoping to make a fortune here. The 27-year-old Ghanaian is convinced that Xiong'an is the most promising land in China now.

"Chinese cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are over-saturated with so many people and so many foreigners. If I had started a business there, I would have been at the bottom of the food chain and thus suffered climbing all the way up," said Vincent, who believes there are more opportunities in the new area. "Xiong'an is different. Everything starts from the very beginning."

The young entrepreneur now commits himself to medical equipment trade between China and Africa. The startup he has registered in Xiong'an is an international trade company, which he believes will help connect Chinese partners with his family business in Africa.

"Xiong'an is a relatively very new and very young city. And I am also quite young. We all know when it comes to the future, one should actually put in effort to develop ourselves for the future. And I feel in that sense with Xiong'an, the government is putting in effort to develop it," he noted.

The company will ship advanced medical equipment from China to Ghana and other African countries to provide better health services for more African people.

"I expect that as I am growing, learning and becoming better at expanding my business, Xiong'an is also going to help me to expand my business as well with various technologies," said Vincent. "I believe that Xiong'an is going to be something very big in the future."

Likewise, Godsword George Chinemerem, a 32-year-old Nigerian, is also excited about getting involved in the growing process of the new area.

George runs equipment trading companies in Shenzhen and Haikou, port cities in south China, and he decided to launch a logistic company in Xiong'an as he has faith in China's futuristic city.

Registering a company in Xiong'an is simple for foreigners, according to George, who finished the whole process and received his documents within one day.

"The administrative services are swift and contain no forms of racism. I'm very much welcome here, and I'm happy to be so," he noted.

Samuel Nwokocha, a friend of George and Vincent, finds himself fascinated by the bright prospects of the new area, where he believes is going to be greener, smarter and more people-oriented. He is currently pursuing his Master of Business Administration degree at Shenyang University in the capital city of Liaoning Province.

Samuel, also a business owner from Nigeria, expects to extend his business from Nigeria to China by establishing a company in Xiong'an after finishing his studies in 2025.

"When I graduate in 2025, I will gladly open a business here in Xiong'an," he said. "It would be a dream for me to stay long in Xiong'an, to watch my own business grow and bring more people into this place to grow the economy of Xiong'an." ■

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