Overseas Chinese trader witnesses years of development

Over the past 30 years, Huang Zhixiao has traveled back and forth between China and Italy nearly 300 times. As a member of the overseas Chinese community, he's witnessed China's transformation from a backward developing country to the world's second-largest economy, and how it has become "a big country that takes responsibilities in the world community".

Huang, 51, hails from Wenzhou, Zhejiang province. Wenzhou is well known as the "home of overseas Chinese", with nearly 700,000 overseas Chinese from there scattered across more than 130 countries and regions worldwide.

"When I first went to Italy in 1992, I was not yet 20 years old," Huang said.

"At that time, China was in the 'spring' of economic reform, and the government encouraged people to boldly seize opportunities. A wave of people going overseas for business gradually swept across the country," he said.

Huang said that people from one region tended to choose the same country to go to, providing mutual support. For example, people from Zhejiang mostly went to Europe; those from Yunnan province mostly went to Southeast Asia; and people from Guangdong province preferred to go to the United States and Canada.

Huang's relatives were among an earlier group of Wenzhou merchants in Italy. According to them, the market economy in Europe was thriving at that time, offering many opportunities. Encouraged by his relatives, Huang, filled with excitement, boarded a flight to Italy.

In 1992, Italy's GDP accounted for 5.2 percent of the world's total, making it a very developed country compared to China at the time. Although there were many opportunities in the Italian market, the challenges outweighed the opportunities for Huang, who was a newcomer who didn't know the language.

He started out doing basic work, learning the language and familiarizing himself with local business rules. Huang's first job was delivering goods to Chinese restaurants. In addition to working eight hours a day, he also worked a part-time sales job after hours to earn extra money.

"At that time, being young, I didn't feel tired," he said. Huang gradually learned and gained experience with the help of those around him.

In his first month of work in Italy, he received a salary of nearly 5,000 yuan ($691). "At that time, the average wage in China was probably around 600 yuan," Huang explained.

Faced with an income nearly eight times higher than the average in China, Huang was very excited, "Not only because my previous aspirations had become a reality, but most importantly, I could exchange my efforts for rewards."

Four years of work experience gave Huang a preliminary understanding of the market environment in Italy.

In 1996, Wenzhou's small commodity trade began to thrive in the European market. Seeing the development prospects of the market, he immediately switched to small commodity trade, exporting goods produced in Wenzhou to Italy.

"From initially half a container to later transporting a dozen or more containers at a time, that's how I slowly built up," Huang said.

In the late 1990s, Huang encountered some setbacks. Due to restrictions on the quantity of Chinese exports to European countries, a portion of the goods were detained during customs clearance, requiring fines to be paid for normal clearance, resulting in some losses. However, these issues were resolved by 2001.

That year, China joined the World Trade Organization, opening a high-speed channel for China to become the "world's factory". As a result, Huang enjoyed more convenience in his subsequent foreign trade processes.

Since 2000, China has undergone dramatic changes, with standardized urban governance, rapid economic development and increased international status. Last year, China's GDP growth rate was 5.2 percent, while the European Union's was only 0.5 percent.

In March, as an overseas delegate, Huang attended the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. During the two sessions, he proposed to further expand high-level opening-up and promote a more open world economy. With nearly 30 years of experience in foreign trade, Huang deeply understands the important role it plays in an open economic system.

"Chambers of commerce are like bridges, connecting Chinese enterprises with local governments, promoting exchanges and cooperation between countries, and providing services such as policy dissemination and business sharing for Chinese enterprises engaged in trade activities overseas," Huang said.

Huang joined the China General Chamber of Commerce in Italy in 1999 and became president of the chamber in 2022.

"I hope that with our experience, we can better serve the vast number of overseas compatriots, so that they can avoid some detours," Huang said.

"Nowadays, more and more outstanding young people are engaging in foreign trade. I believe that the next generation will do better and better based on our foundation, and the country will become stronger and stronger," he added.

yandongjie@chinadaily.com.cn