Shen Jian owns a factory near Shanghai that makes children's play equipment and, like many Chinese manufacturers, his business model is predicated on exporting goods to foreign countries.
His biggest market: DragonMart, the Dubai emporium, which has developed into the biggest trading hub for Chinese goods outside the mainland.
The entrepreneur, 30, is one of hundreds of Chinese nationals who have launched small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Emirates in recent years.
The Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Dubai estimates there are some 3,500 Chinese-owned companies operating in the UAE, mainly in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.
"We have witnessed rapid growth of Chinese small and medium-sized companies in UAE in the past few years, especially since 2002 when DragonMart opened and many private, small and medium-sized companies were introduced to UAE market," says Zhang Baojun, the secretary general of the Chinese Business Council in the UAE.
An economics graduate, Mr Shen moved to the UAE six years ago after stumbling upon a website about Dubai.
"It said many people come here. It's a very international place. I thought it was maybe a good opportunity to open my business," he says.
He worked first as a salesman in a shop in DragonMart to gain experience and gauge the market before opening his own store, HOCC Amusement Equipment, in the same centre three years ago.
"We sell more in China, but the profit is higher here. We need the two markets. If we only had the Chinese business it would be very difficult to hold on because there is so much competition."
Many Chinese come to the UAE because it is easy to set up a business here - but it is equally easy to lose money, he says.
"If you do it the right way you can make money easily but if you go wrong you can lose a lot easily. Many people come, lose money and go back."
Indeed, a number of Chinese companies shut down during the global downturn, says Mr Zhang.
"We have no specific numbers [but] yes, some companies affected by the recession and shut down their office in UAE," he says.
Mr Shen is doing relatively well, and recently landed a big order in Saudi Arabia, but has more competition now than when he first arrived.
"When I started it was a good profit but now the situation is many people are coming and we are fighting with the price. I am making higher quality [goods to compete], but here customers do not look to China for quality. They look for price."
DragonMart features a bewildering array of shops, including stores solely dedicated to selling fish tanks, spare parts for cars and even shelves.
David Zhang, the executive of client affairs at Dragon Mart, says the mall contains more than 3,000 shops - the largest concentrated number of Chinese retailers outside the mainland.
"They sell mainly in Dubai, but there are a lot of wholesalers that sell to neighbouring countries such as Oman, Qatar, Iraq and Iran and Saudi Arabia."
Dr Steffen Hertog, a lecturer at the London School of Economics, says Chinese SMEs and micro-entrepreneurs are active in many of the world's emerging markets, including difficult environments such as Algeria and sub-Saharan African states.
"So it's no surprise that they would also emerge in the UAE as the trade and logistics hub of GCC business. Overseas Chinese are very entrepreneurial and once they reach a critical mass, their communities become almost self-sustaining," he adds.
The opening of DragonMart led to an influx of Chinese entrepreneurs, but events such as the annual China Commodities Fair and China Sourcing Fair have lured many more to the Emirates.
Chinese entrepreneurs are involved in a range of industries in the UAE, says Mr Zhang.
"For members of Chinese Business Council, they are mainly from different industries ranging from energy development, construction and machinery, telecommunications, textiles and garments, furniture, exhibition and conference organisation, restaurants and travel services," he says.
For some shopowners in DragonMart, the decision to leave China to set up a business in the UAE may have made economic sense, but it came with a sacrifice.
"My baby and wife are in China. Maybe they will move here in two years. It's a very difficult choice to leave them. I want to go home and see my wife and baby but I am here for business. This is my life," says Wang Yu, 29, who owns the jewellery shop Thomas and Ivy and a wholesale business, and has been in the country for six years.
He worked on a construction site in Ajman when he first arrived, but lost his job after the onset of the 2008 banking crisis, so he decided to open a business, taking advantage of a fall in rental costs.
"I think there is a better business environment in Dubai than in China. If you want to open a shop in China you have to go this department and that department and another. It is very difficult. Here it is easy, only rent," he says.
He plans to return to China eventually but thinks he may stay for another 10 years.
"I like it here. Not only because of money, but because it is interesting. It's tax free and the people are friendly."
Mr Wang's wholesale business is doing well but, like many other shops at the moment, the retail side has been slower.
It is a lament heard elsewhere in DragonMart.
"When [my parents] first came business was very good and they had a very good profit but now it's smaller. There are less customers. The big ones all go to China because it is cheaper," says Miffy Hu, 26, a sales manager at Baisen Auto Spare Parts Trading.
Her parents, who had the same business in China, moved to Dubai five years ago and she followed three years ago. Her brother and sister also live in Dubai.
"If it doesn't pick up we will go back to China in a couple of years. It is better in China just now because it is a bigger market."
Wei Quan Chen, 25, who manages his brother's business, Ocean Fly Sports, agrees but says there is also more competition in China.
He wants to start a business and plans to try it first in Dubai before moving back to China to launch an enterprise there. "I came to have a look and get a little experience and maybe get some business ideas," he says.
"Maybe I will try to open a business here first because it's easier. If it works I might stay for a little more time."
[ business@thenational.ae ]
