Another automobile collaboration: Chinese & Ghanaian business men
My point is that the trading relationship between Africa and China is infinitely more complex than the "Zambian copper mine" stories Western Media is so fond of.
And every year this relationship deepens. It is a great pity that US diplomats are usually the last to fully grasp it. From my experience in Nigeria, it's clear the British know what's up, not sure about the Americans.
Quote:
According to him, test runs of the facility have also been successfully completely, paving the way for the grand launch of the facility to the general public.
The plant, comparable to any automobile assembling facility in the world, assembles imported vehicle parts from China and other parts of the world, including locally manufactured ones.
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http://www.myjoyonline.com/business/...the-market.php
Interesting story on growing trade/interpersonal links between Africa & China.
The relationship between China and Africa is rapidly evolving - and demands a much more nuanced treatment than the scare stories that are the staple of Western media.
Quote:
Today, he owns a five million yuan (HK$6.3 million) flat in Zhujiang New Town, Guangzhou's smartest district, drives a car worth US$64,000 and speaks Putonghua. Issa ships 50 to 200 containers home per year - full of construction materials, because "they're the most lucrative" - and makes an average US$2,000 on each container.
A friend, Yusuf Sampto - a trader with three shops in West Africa's Burkina Faso - pulls up a chair. They excitably describe stuffing suitcases with "literally millions" of US dollars to move their profits back to China once the goods have sold (they declare the cash at customs, they say). African banks can't be trusted, they explain, and it's impossible for a migrant to open a current account in the mainland.
Like most of Guangzhou's successful traders, Issa has a Chinese wife.
"She used to work for a company I ordered from, and we became friends," he says. "We had a Chinese wedding and a Muslim wedding. Her name was Xie Miemie but I renamed her Zena."
Zena is from Hainan Island and Issa was the first African man her family had ever seen.
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