On the road towards further openness

A Pakistani businessman in China

Siddiq Memon is a Pakistan businessman attending the exhibition in Xi'an for the third time. He seems to be better informed about Chinese customers than his Serbian counterparts.

At stand A074 of the Silk Road International Pavilion, Siddiq Memon displayed ornate white jade decorations and copper ornaments with inlaid gold made in his hometown. These handmade household and office decors are not cheap: a pair of 30-cm-tall white jade vases costs approximately RMB 1,200; and the copper ornaments are more expensive as a couple of spotted deer of the same size cost up to RMB 1,800. "Each of these copper exhibits has been exquisitely carved, polished, lacquered or stove varnished by local handicraftsmen," Siddiq Memon said.

Siddiq Memon, 36, comes from Karachi, Pakistan's largest and most populous city. "The market here is so big that earnings grow year after year. Now the sales revenue in China accounts for 70 percent of my entire sales a year!" He further explained that the other 30 percent came from Pakistan, India and Turkey combined.

To save human resources, Siddiq Memon brought with him his younger brother and an assistant to Xi'an this time. All commodities were parceled and transported over the maritime route to China, taking almost one month. China's southern port city Guangzhou and northern port Tianjin were two places Siddiq Memon chose to offload the goods which were then transported by land to Xi'an.

Over the last three years, Siddiq Memon has traveled to many Chinese cities, among which Yiwu of Zhejiang Province left with him a deep impression, as it's the world's best-known small commodities wholesale market. "Yiwu is a good place to do business, get acquainted with friends, and collect useful information."

Besides, Siddiq Memon likes Guangzhou and Xi'an, two cosmopolises with lots of Muslims who hold the same religious belief as him. He joked, "Their foods are more adaptable to my stomach."

Kunming in Yunnan Province is another good choice, where his goods are often sold out immediately. He has even been to Hainan Island, but soon discovered that tourists seldom take heavy decors from the island back home. When he was asked why not choosing metropolis like Beijing and Shanghai, he mischievously replied, "People there are always busy and have no time to walk around exhibitions or buy commodities."

After three years' experience, Siddiq Memon has a good understanding of the Chinese market and potential customers. "People in Inner Mongolia and Harbin like to buy our giant white jade decors and copper ornaments inlaid with gold, as they are willingly to splurge on luxurious decorations." The growing middle class, which wields immense purchasing power, has been seized by this prudent Pakistani businessman as a target market.

During the interview, Siddiq Memon made another sale, selling a pair of white jade vases to a Chinese buyer who tried bargaining for a lower price. Tactful Siddiq Memon gave him a small jade plate gratis and successfully sold the vases at the original price. He seems to have the ability of figuring out every buyer's purchasing psychology and understands that customers are asking for a more satisfying retail experience rather than bargaining for a cheaper price. "This year's sales data have not been calculated yet but I hope it will be a satisfying result." Siddiq Memon scanned the reporter's WeChat on his cellphone, saying, "The Chinese are so smart to invent WeChat payment which helps me sell goods and receive money far away in Pakistan."

Opening up to the world

From the farthest Eurasian countries bordering Europe right up to the Central Asian nations on China's western borders, the manifestation of the Belt and Road Initiative from bold, ambitious proposal to concrete, game-changing reality is for all to witness. In fact, the tangible results and success have spurred other countries to also express the desire to be part of this titanic undertaking. The attitude of collaboration and mutual development makes it more than the sum of its parts such as China's strategic initiative or an economic endeavor but a truly humanitarian and global undertaking based on mutual benefit and growth. Its credibility is also bolstered by China's phenomenal economic success and mind boggling transformation over the last three decades.

The Belt and Road Initiative also expounds on the notion of the Chinese strategy of opening up to the world in the hope of creating a more open and inclusive future with other nations, in order to create a brighter future for all. On the one hand, since China's reform and opening-up in 1978, foreign capital, technologies, management expertise and talents have all flowed into China as essential productive contributors. On the other hand, the Belt and Road Initiative focuses on the interconnection of infrastructure, integration of policies and regulations, and more people-to-people communication, thereby facilitating exchanges of essential productive factors among countries along the Belt and Road.

Spanning from the Asia-Pacific Economic Circle to the European Economic Area, most countries along the Belt and Road are developing economies. They are facing similar problems that China encountered and overcame at the early stages of opening up. The same conditions become a realistic base for win-win cooperation and mutual development. Therefore, China focuses on the establishment of an inclusive and open platform to carry out regional cooperation on a wider range and higher level.

Furthermore, the transformation also brings opportunities for China to build a more open and diversified economy. Along with products being exported globally, China is opening its door to emerging economies rather than just the developed countries, and the regional cooperation platform plays a crucial role in the global market.

Thus, China's policy of openness is both revamped and reenergized by the Belt and Road Initiative, facilitating national rejuvenation in the mode of the new normal of economic development while simultaneously sharing invaluable development wisdom with developing countries and regions along the Belt and Road.