Congolese Martha Makuena never thought her background in fashion design and expertise in hair styling would prove useful when her husband was transferred to Wuhan City, central China's Hubei Province, 13 years ago.

Today, the owner of Paulma Hair Salon specializing in Afro hairstyles, which opened in April this year in downtown Beijing, employs three professional hairdressers from Africa. She has three children, all born in China.

Makuena arrived in Wuhan in 1999 and found she was often asked by people she spoke to online to provide hair care for Africans in China. Intuition told her opportunity was knocking.

"It is difficult for a Chinese hairdresser to meet the [hair care] needs of our African hair. When we go to a local salon, they can't do our hair. Local people's hair is oily, but our hair is dry," said Makuena.

Makuena began to provide a hairstyling service at home and she soon built a good reputation in the local expatriate community.

Getting started

The burgeoning Sino-African relationship has seen an increasing number of Africans going to China. Although exact figures are hard to come by, Makuena has seen a big expansion in her customer base since the family moved to Beijing in 2003.

"My wife has a diploma in hairdressing and fashion design, and she knows these things. Thus, the idea came up: Why don't we set up a standard, upscale hair salon in Beijing to help Africans?" Makuena's husband Paul Luyeye, a senior engineer, told ChinAfrica.

But, the road to success was not without its problems.

"It was not that easy," said Luyeye. He said that the process to set up a foreign company in China was a long one, and as it was not his first time to go through the process he knew what was at stake.

The couple went back to their hometown Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to recruit local experienced hairdressers and helped them apply for work permits. Staff are given about 4,000 yuan ($635) monthly salary and free accommodation close to the salon. 

"Skilled staff are key to the success of business," Luyeye said, adding that he has invested about 450,000 yuan ($71,428) into the salon, which is the only one of its kind in Beijing. He also promotes the business to show other Africans that it is possible to open up businesses in China.