A recent Chinese study showed that more than 75% of foreigners in China are divided between the cities of Beijing and Shanghai, as the former is the capital that includes all the administrative and vital centers, and the latter is a commercial city with Western characteristics, while Arabs prefer a third city, Guangzhou, located in Guangdong Province (southern China).
This city is a destination for Arabs; as there are about fifty thousand of them, between visitors and residents, most of whom work in the field of trade, and they bring their families with them.
Some neighborhoods in the city are known by Arabic names due to the presence of Arabs in them, and the facades of restaurants and shops are covered with Arabic writing, in addition to the presence of some private Arabic schools to educate the children of merchants residing in the city.
The Commercial Capital
The head of the Arab Businessmen Forum in China, Arafat Harahsheh, points out that since China adopted the policy of openness in the 1970s, Guangzhou was one of the first cities to witness openness to the outside world, specifically the Middle East.
He explained in his interview with Al Jazeera Net that the city is one of the first seaports through which Islam entered China during the Maritime Silk Road, and thus the conditions were favorable for Arab merchants to revive this road and activate trade exchanges.
For his part, Hazem Al-Sawafiri, a Palestinian merchant, considered that the Arabs’ choice of Guangzhou is linked to the needs of the Arab market, which prefers cheap, low-quality products available in the city’s factories, compared to other commercial cities such as Shanghai, which manufactures high-quality products.
He pointed out that the Canton International Fair for Chinese Imports and Exports, which the city hosts annually in April and October, has become a destination for merchants, factories and companies from all over the world, so Arab merchants were keen to always be present in this city to participate in the exhibition.
For his part, Firas Omar, a Jordanian merchant, said that the most important reason that prompted many Arabs to live with their families in Guangzhou is its moderate weather, which is very similar to the Mediterranean. Firas explained in his interview with Al Jazeera that the city includes 42 Arab restaurants, in addition to three Arab schools, in which about 700 students study, in addition to the presence of five mosques, one of which is one of the oldest mosques in China, which is the Abu Waqas Mosque
Community needs
Regarding the needs of the large Arab community in the south, Mohammed Khalifa, an Arab merchant who has lived in China for about twenty years, pointed out that the number of Arab schools is still less than the number that can accommodate all Arab students, noting that the Chinese authorities impose strict restrictions on the establishment of private schools.
