A growing number of Africans live in Chinese cities with booming economic ties between the two sides

African residents buy fruits at a grocery in Xiaobeilu, a commercial area in Guangzhou, capital of south China’s Guangdong Province, March 21, 2013.
With the Chinese economy expanding fast over the past decades, African immigrants, previously unseen in China, have streamed into prosperous cities of Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai and even to some second-tier cities. According to China’s Ministry of Commerce, China’s annual trade with Africa surged to about 200 billion U.S. dollars in 2012.
The booming economic relations between the two sides attract thousands of Africans to pursue dreams and make fortunes in Guangzhou, one of the pioneering cities of the country’s economic reform and opening up and a primary destination for Africans. Every afternoon, around Xiaobei Road and Huanshi Road, many Africans can be seen shuttling among stores to hand-pick jeans, T-shirts and other garments, carrying huge black plastic bags or giant backpacks. Authorities estimate there are some 100,000 inhabitants in the city.
(The photo story goes with Xinhua’s reports on Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Africa.)

Angolan trader Mike (L) bargains with miss Zhou, a Chinese retailer in a wholesale market in Xiaobei Road, a commercial area in Guangzhou, capital of south China’s Guangdong Province, March 21, 2013. <Xinhua/NEWSis/Liu Dawei>