An interview with a 26-year-old entrepreneur,
who has taken seven trips to China to buy handbags, clothes and jewelry. “China is the center of everything,”
she said.
As U.S. tariffs under
President Trump push China to seek new buyers beyond America, entrepreneurs
from developing countries are seizing the moment. Rhoda Nghelembi, a
26-year-old businesswoman from Tanzania,
has made seven trips to
Yiwu, China’s vast wholesale hub, sourcing handbags, jewelry, and clothes for customers across Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and Congo.
Nghelembi, who once bought goods through local
middlemen, discovered that by dealing directly with Chinese suppliers she could
cut costs and expand her
profits. “China is the center of
everything,” she said, adding that the country’s dynamic markets offer endless
opportunities for small traders like her.
Her story illustrates
how China’s shift in
global trade patterns — exporting more to Africa and Southeast
Asia as U.S. demand slows — is reshaping
global commerce. While America’s tariffs aim to curb China’s
dominance, they have instead accelerated its economic influence in the
developing world, where entrepreneurs like Nghelembi
see “many, many opportunities.”
Not
long after it joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, China became the factory
floor of the United States. But free trade with China cost America jobs. Economists
later termed that period the “China Shock,” lamenting how the United States had
critically underestimated the scale of China’s manufacturing prowess.
Now
President Trump wants to bring those jobs back to America. Through a series of whiplash
tariffs, he has tried to shut off the U.S. market to China. But instead of slowing
down, China is selling more goods than ever, this time to the rest of the world.
Is
China unleashing a new shock?
I
recently traveled to China and across Southeast Asia to
try to answer this question. In Indonesia, an economist told me that by lowering
its trade barrier with China, the country had seen a flood of cheap goods that killed
off entire industries, like the one for garments. In Malaysia, a fledgling but dynamic
solar panel industry was destroyed. In other countries, like Vietnam, trade with
China has been, so far, a boon.
China
isn’t forcing countries to buy its stuff. Beijing, like Washington before it, is
making the pitch that open trade is good for peace. Its two dozen free trade agreements,
mostly with developing countries that have struggled to attract American investment,
come with money that can create local jobs and build critical infrastructure. But
the trade is usually not even: In most cases, China sells more than it imports.
Some economies have become entirely dependent on China. As that Indonesian economist
put it to me: “The contribution is very, very large to our economy.”
Throughout, I wanted to know:
Who is buying all this stuff?
On
my most recent reporting trip to China, I took a train to the city of Yiwu, known
for being the wholesale capital world. In one of Yiwu’s six vast international trade
centers, I talked to buyers and sellers. One of them was
Rhoda Nghelembi, an entrepreneur from Tanzania. She shared her story with me. It
has helped to fill in the other side of the equation.
Ms.
Nghelembi, 26, started several years ago selling home
appliances and dinnerware in Dar es Salaam. She relied on middlemen to source her
wares. But when she learned they were buying from China, she decided to go to China
herself. I met her last week, on her seventh trip.
Her
business, Msukuma, sells handbags, clothes and jewelry to customers in Tanzania and other African countries.
Our conversation has been edited for clarity and brevity.
When did you start coming to China
and why?
2023. You know China is the center of everything.
What led you to come here?
Before, I was buying from my country,
and I was surprised that they were buying from China. Then my agent told me, “You
should go, go and you will see many, many opportunities.”
So you were
ordering from somebody in Tanzania who was ordering from China, and then you decided
to come here yourself. Were you surprised when you first arrived?
I was really surprised because I saw
the percent that the middleman was adding was huge. It is really a lot of money.
So now do you find you can make more
money?
Now, besides my own business, I also
take orders from people back in my country. So I’m also
like a middleman. I buy, I sell, I also do TikTok videos. People from TikTok, not
just in my country, but also from Kenya, Uganda, Congo, they call me. “We need this
and this,” so I will buy and send it to them.
Can you give me a sense of how successful
your business is now?
It’s a good business. I can afford
anything I want because I’m doing business, I’m gaining every day. Anything that
I want, I think I can afford for now.
And how does China fit into your future?
I see my future growing so big, and
being rich because of China, because China has so many opportunities.
What is the biggest opportunity you
found once you got here?
At first when I came I was selling
home appliances and plates. But when I came, I saw jewelry,
I saw handbags, I saw women’s clothes. So I started changing
my business.
You must be aware of the U.S.-China
trade war. Do you see any differences since then in terms of opportunities for you?
Yeah, I see many, many differences.
This market, every day when you come you see different things. That’s how it is
in China. Africa is so different, even the quality of things is quite different.
Many African people, they like cheap things. And American people like quality things.
Things are very cheap.