One Belt, One Road Initiative provides new opportunities for Muslim robe business multimedia-container
A 67-year-old Muslim entrepreneur in northwestern China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region is finding new opportunities for his family clothing business along the Silk Road economic belt.
Yang Faxiang started his company in the 1990s with a few dozen sewing machines, making ethnic costumes and clothing for Hui people. Later, as cross-cultural exchanges and trading increased between China and the Middle East, he found a welcoming foreign market for his products.
His company, Wuzhong Wantini Ethnic Clothing Co, established its first overseas store in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
"The store functions as a wholesale headquarters for the company in the Middle East since traders from other countries in the region go there to restock. It also helps us to brand our company, showing our designs for Muslim clothes," Yang said.
In 2015, the company's sales revenue reached 24 million yuan ($3.67 million), with 60 percent coming from foreign markets. Yang expects revenue to double this year.
"The One Belt, One Road Initiative will make the ties between China and the Middle East closer, which will benefit our business," he said. "President Xi Jinping visited three countries in the Middle East in January, which has given us strong encouragement."
Yang said he hopes Xi's visit will result in some preferential policies for Chinese businesses in the Middle East, where he has found visas to be costly, challenging to obtain because of his age and for short terms.
Financial services in the Middle East also are difficult for foreign businesses, so he hopes more banks will provide help for small business owners like him.
Competition among Chinese producers is fierce in the Middle East, Yang said.
"Some clothing companies from southern China can provide the same quality with lower prices as their logistics costs are less than those for companies in northern China," he said. This has "brought challenges to us, but we will continue to make efforts because the market is promising".
Ma Jun, a senior manager who is in charge of foreign marketing, said the company is considering opening stores in Sudan and Qatar.
Yang chose Wuzhong city, located in central Ningxia, for his business as it is one of the major settlements for Hui people in China. More than 55 percent of Wuzhong's population is Muslim, and many companies have located Muslim clothing businesses there.
Last November, Ningxia Hengfeng Group, a clothing company with an investment of 150 million yuan was established in Wuzhong, and is expected to provide 2,000 jobs when it begins production by the end of the year.
The company expects an annual production capacity of 5 million robes for Muslims, which it intends to export to Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
Gong Bo, the company's general manager, said the business should strengthen trading between China and Arab countries. The company expects to have monthly orders of at least $500,000 from the Middle East, Gong said.
