MEGA MARKET:A growing number of African businessmen are plying their trade in Yiwu (XINHUA)

Neither Europe's debt crisis, nor the scorching temperature in Senegal, fazes Omar Sall. A native of Senegal and in his early 20s, Sall is in his element as he leisurely wipes the woodcarvings at his store in Yiwu.

"We are mainly selling agricultural products and woodcarvings, with a monthly income of approximately 5,000 yuan ($787). My [monthly] income here almost equals to the annual income that I get at home," said Sall. "The shop has performed very well since it opened three months ago. I have confidence in making money here."

The "here" that Sall mentions is Yiwu, a well known city in east China's Zhejiang Province, which is now the world's largest market for small goods.

Most of the African businessmen in Yiwu cannot speak either fluent Mandarin or English, but are able to do business in the local Yiwu dialect. The most frequent phrase that is used here is "making a fortune." What makes these African traders so confident in such a small city?

Right time

Guillaum Bardi is a typical example of Africans doing business in Yiwu. A native of Guinea, he first began conducting business in Dubai. Due to the global economic crisis in 2009, he left Dubai for Yiwu to expand his horizons.

"I got the idea of going to Yiwu when I met a Chinese businessman named Jin. It was the first time for me to hear about the city's development story," said Bardi. "Jin told me about his experience and the lucrative market there, so I wanted to give it a try," he added.

During the Fourth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in November 2009, China proposed to set up the African Products Exhibition Center to promote African exports to China. The exhibition center, located in the Yiwu International Trade Mart, opened this May, with a total area of 5,000 square meters. It opens for business people from more than 40 African countries as trade and exhibition compartments for each nation measures 100 square meters.

"With government cooperation as the base, this center also adopts market operations," said Weng Jianping, Vice Director of Yiwu Municipal Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau.