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For Egyptian Hanisope Makkari Gergashana, coming to China was totally accidental. But staying here for 10 years has definitely been a deliberate choice for him. The trade of his ancestors in times gone by apparently ties in with ancient China, making his presence in the country a fascinating confluence of history in the present day. So what's it like when an Egyptian ventures to the Middle Kingdom today? And what happens when he tries to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors and grow his trade business in China? Here are the business adventures of Hanisope in the latest episode of our Making it in China series. My name is Haney. I'm an Egyptian. I first came to China in 2015 for apparel imports. We traveled to Guangzhou City. Later we discovered that Xixi City in Fujian Province has many factories that make fine quality clothes and the transportation system there is convenient. So we booked tickets to Xixi to place orders for clothes, fabrics and other stuff. The goods sold very well when shipped to other countries, so we came back for more orders and the business got better and better. Eventually, we opened a trading company in Xixi to carry out export trade. Living there since, Hanisope is now a popular man in Xixi, a small city under Chengzhou City in eastern Fujian Province. He speaks Mandarin and loves drinking local tea. His Chinese friends and community folks call him Hengli, a loose Chinese transliteration of his Egyptian name, Haney. His phone rings constantly, typical of a busy man whose business is expanding fast. The Egyptian has several companies to his name here in China, which specialize in export trade, international logistics and customs clearance businesses. Haney's family has a long history engaging in trade in Egypt. Before coming to China, he was working in his father's company. Back then, his family thumb had already been engaged in international trade, importing from China, Italy, France and other countries. He himself specialized in apparel and the clothes trade. When he embarked on the trip to China in 2015, he did not foresee he would set up his company headquarters in the country and stay here for 10 years. It was never part of the plan. In Egypt, a lot of traders are engaged in import business from China, not just my family. There was another Egyptian involved in the import trade from China. I found out that Chinese apparel products are usually of good quality. I thought, if I can do the purchasing myself in China, I might have more choices on the style and variety, plus reaching out to a broader market and get what I liked. I can even have my own fashion design manufactured for me, which sells well. Hans came his first business adventure in China in 2015 when he discovered Shishu, a county-level city under Qianzhou. Qianzhou is a historical port city that once served as the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road, ancient China's maritime channel for trade and cultural exchanges with other countries. Although small, Shishu is one of the most renowned textile and garment processing and distributing centers in Southeast China. It boasts a global garment processing trade industry chain. In 2023, the output value of Shishu's textile, footwear and clothing industries exceeded 77 billion yuan, that's roughly 11 billion US dollars. In Shishu, Hane can always help his clients get the styles and sizes of fashion they want, be it Asian or European. His clients keep coming back to him for more orders every year. Hane soon finds out such choices are not limited to clothing. He sensed keenly that a small city in China might just be the right place for spreading his business wings. Many foreigners love to come to China for procurement. They love Chinese products. They can find products of very good quality or find quality according to different price range. For instance, we have a lot of foreign clients coming to China to buy machinery for shoemaking or food processing. If you go for the big brands, there are machines priced at 10 million yuan, or you can choose machines in the 5 or 6 million yuan price range. You can choose. It's not like the 10 million yuan machine is the only model available. That way, you can't seal a deal. People need in-between choices. China is vast with a huge population base. You can find almost anything you want. More importantly, Hane was amazed by what today people call China's speed and efficiency. For example, this factory produces only tools. Its neighboring factory produces other types of machinery. They can work at the same time and speedily manufacture what you want. The scenario of waiting 3 or 4 months for equipment never happens here. Here, you've got many manufacturing plants. When they run their machines together, you get your order delivered in 4 or 5 days. Why do we like doing business in China? Because the speed is just impressive. Everything's fast and efficient. China's speed did spur his business growth. Today, Hane exports Chinese products to almost 60 countries worldwide. His clients come from Africa, the Middle East, America, South America and Southeast Asia. His trade company helps them place orders, arrange shipping and other logistics and takes care of customs clearance. His company's business scope has also expanded. Our goal is to purchase all sorts of China-made commodities for exports. We do not just procure clothes, apparel or clothes-making machines. He now has branch offices set up in eight Chinese cities, extending from north to south, including Chenzhou, Guangzhou and Xiamen, each handling specialized types of procurements, ranging from apparel, small commodities, to tools, sewing machines, biscuits-making machines and other machinery. With a wide green, Hane says he's been in China for about 10 years and has seen his trade business continually expanding. He attributes this in part to China's faster development. Let me tell you why my company develops so fast. It's because China keeps developing. The country is constantly changing for the better. For example, Shishi used to have just one port for domestic shipping routes. Then the government launched the Belt and Road Initiative. We've seen more changes happened following that. Now it's more convenient. We can directly export our procurement from Shishi to other countries. We don't even need to ship our goods to ports such as Xiamen, Guangzhou or Ningbo. China's development provides the opportunity for our company's development. With the launch of Belt and Road Initiative, I'm sure it's going to be more convenient in the future. Now the city is building an online export processing platform, where businesses can go about export registration and customs clearance procedures online, which is expected to bring more convenience for trading companies. There's one more thing that Hany appreciates about China. That is, safety. He shares one exchange between himself and his friends back in 2016. They asked, how's everything, Hany? I said, all good. I plan to set up a company here in China. They were like, why? I said it'll be good for starting a business here. You don't know China because you've never been here. It's different than what you think once you are here. They were like, tell us what's so good about China. I said, China is safe. We don't need to be worried about anything. Why do a lot of us foreigners like to develop our business here? It's because the country is safe, which is what you need for business. How do you do business if it's not safe? Chinese people love to say, safety first. And China meets that requirement. So I can trust my business here and open bank accounts here. Hany is also glad that it's also safe to drive at night here without worrying about one's personal safety. To Hany, the country's digital technology development has also made business transactions easier and safer. When we first came to China in 2015, we were still carrying cash for procurement, like the way we do in Egypt, which looked odd in China. When I saw many Chinese using WeChat, Pay or other online payment apps, I could see its convenience. I asked my Chinese friends to help me download WeChat and other payment apps and saved myself the hassle of carrying cash. Later, I started to do online shopping and have goods sent to my home, thanks to the fast and safe internet network. Living in China for nearly a decade, Hany has become a local guy, popular among both local Chinese and expert communities there. Within the expert community, Hany is the go-to person for everything, from business affairs consultation to trivial everyday matters. He says many expert families love living in Shishu because of its safe and convenient lifestyle. Many experts see the city as their second home. Why do I like Shishu? Because the local government supports our trade business. That's why a lot of expats set up their companies in the city. The local government put in place many trade facilitation measures. It also offers help with kids' schooling, which makes life so much easier for expats. This encourages us to work with local manufacturers and export and develop together. The Egyptian man says, from 2015 to now, he has witnessed China's huge changes for the better. Meanwhile, his company's business also keeps getting better and expanding fast. Without China's development, without the support from Chinese manufacturers and Chinese government support for trade, we wouldn't have developed so fast. Every day, we are busy going from one factory to another, placing orders and shipping the goods abroad. It's all thanks to cooperation from Chinese manufacturers. The Belt and Road Initiative is the right move. It benefits both China and other countries. According to Hani, now a lot of small factories want to export their goods, which may not be in big quantity. The Belt and Road Initiative provides a route for facilitating exports for such smaller companies. He says it's convenient for both big and smaller exporters. Hani finds business success in Shishu, China. But how does he like his life here in China? What else has he discovered during his adventures here? While his business develops in Shishu, China, Hani So Pei has also fallen in love with life in Shishu. Why do I like Shishi? Why do I place our headquarters in Shishi? Shishi has great environment for living. The temperature here is roughly the same as my hometown in Egypt. It's not too cold nor too hot. The people here are super nice, and I can enjoy great seafood just as I do back in my home in Egypt, which is also close to the sea. Many dishes are very similar. When saying this, Hani was wearing a hearty smile. One can see he truly enjoys his life in the Chinese city. I often go on business trips, but every time I hope the trip will be cut shorter so that I can return home sooner because my business, my friends are all in Shishi. This is like my second home. He even finds that his ties with Chen Zhou is way deeper than he had thought. When I was in Egypt, I had heard of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Maritime Silk Road. When I came to Shishi in Chen Zhou, I discovered that my ancestors might have been associated with Chen Zhou a thousand years ago, carrying out trade. Now, here I am again trading, just like my ancestors. However, Hani's idea about China was quite blurry before stepping on its soil. Before I came to China, I watched many Chinese movies, but that didn't help establish an overall picture of China. Once I was here, I know what true China is like. China is just awesome. The movies that we watched in Egypt do not reflect the authentic Chinese culture. In those movies, we sometimes mixed up the cultural features of Hong Kong, SAR, Thailand, and South Korea. But when I'm in China, I see a country very different. The roads are clean, life is convenient, safe, and cozy. When we first came to Shishu, the city was not yet fully developed. There were still some old shabby houses. The roads were not that wide. The seafront area was not as beautiful as it is now. But the city speedily transformed into a beautiful modern city right under his nose over the past decade. Although Egypt and China are millions of miles away, Hane feels surprisingly very much at home in Shishu. Before I came to China, I didn't know much about the country. Since I've been here, I've noticed many cultural similarities. For example, during Chinese New Year, people will go back to their parents' home for family reunions. If a cousin or some relative is having a wedding, everybody will attend. People are close and polite. They show respect towards their grandparents and uncles. Many such Chinese cultural traditions are similar to ours. If you visit my home or my factory in Egypt, we serve our guests tea, although a different tea type. When we come to Fujian or Shijian provinces, people drink tea a lot. Also, family ties are similar to Egyptians. China is very open and it has a rich cultural heritage. While he's busy with his business expansion, Hane is an active volunteer worker in his community. In fact, he is the team leader of the volunteer team. Hane and his company often donate winter clothes, quilts and tents to the seniors and those in need. If his community organizes some activity, he will surely come to help. During the pandemic, when there was a lack of face masks to go around, Hane asked his father to send several batches of face masks from abroad to donate to the locals. He also worked tirelessly taking care of people and those who need help. When I first came to China doing business, I was all alone without family or anything. I was a bit lonely. Many people were super nice to me. They taught me quite a lot. I knew nothing about the country. I was not even able to speak Mandarin Chinese back then. But many locals who are not even my business associates have been quite hospitable to me. Invite me to speak Mandarin Chinese back then. But many locals who are not even my business associates inviting me to dinners and stuff, taking care of me all the time. If my goods were delayed at the customs, they would say, don't worry Hane, I'll accompany you over there to sort it out. Chinese have been so friendly towards me. So when the pandemic struck, I was like, whatever I could do, whatever help I could offer, I would do it. Although his family is all in Egypt, Hane is often surrounded by local friends. He particularly loves the Chinese New Year holiday. In China, Chinese New Year is filled with fun activities like what we do in Egypt. When we celebrate a festival, relatives will get together and we do a lot of feasting too. Lunch is often followed by dinner. A lot of people join in the feast. If you have brothers, you visit this brother today, another brother tomorrow, you must visit every one of them or you risk disappointing them. When I'm in China, I'll visit my Chinese friends' places as if I were a member of theirs. So I like Chinese New Year very much. The music is lively, kids run around. I don't think about work or business because the factories are closed and the customs are closed. I will just enjoy the holiday and rest. When the holiday is over, I'm back in full swing for work. In recent years, bilateral trade between China and Egypt has continued to develop. Data from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs website shows in 2023, the bilateral trade volume was close to US$16 billion. There's a widely popular song in Fujian province with the title, Effort is the only road to success. Living in Shishu, Fujian, Hani also believes in hard work. His plan in the near future is to open his own factory. I plan to buy a factory in China. Then we can manufacture our own goods and export them to other countries. I'll need to work harder. I will work with my business partners and pals here for better business. Well, let's hope his dream come true.