Transnational couple's business thrives in China's booming market

This photo provided by the interviewee shows Oguzhan Arslan from Türkiye checking stocks at a warehouse of his company in north China's Tianjin in 2023. (Xinhua)

TIANJIN, May 5 (Xinhua) -- During this year's five-day May Day holiday, 29-year-old Oguzhan Arslan from Türkiye and his wife Xiaoai (pseudonym), a native of north China's Tianjin Municipality, were busier than ever, as their international trade start-up witnessed a surge in business activity.

Checking new orders from abroad via email, keeping up with goods shipping status, and contacting to Chinese suppliers to check the quality of the goods took up most of their holiday.

"We are currently a very small business, so we need to be hands-on. Recently, the recovery of Chinese market has sparked our global consumers' increasing demands. I have to work around the clock when orders pour in," Arslan said.

The couple started their own business in Tianjin in late 2022. They brought a wide range of daily necessities made in China to overseas customers.

"Many kinds of customized requirements of overseas customers can be met in China. It seems there is nothing that Chinese manufacturers cannot make," Arslan said.

In Arslan's eyes, China's strong manufacturing base, open business environment and smooth logistics system provide fertile ground for the operation of their company.

He still remembers how a Chinese printing company handled one of his orders from Türkiye. In January this year, the company produced 60,000 leaflets and completed delivery within less than a week exactly as the customer demanded.

"We often have time differences in communication with overseas customers. To meet their needs in time, we contacted the Chinese manufacturers as soon as possible, and they always gave feedback very quickly," Arslan said.

Moreover, Arslan benefited a lot from Tianjin's location advantages. "As a port city, Tianjin has a very developed transportation network. It is very convenient to transport goods by sea or by air," he said.

Following the country's optimized COVID-19 response measures, Arslan felt positive about the recovery of China's economy and the improvement in opening up.

"Our shipping runs smoothly, we can promise a more accurate lead time to customers, as a result, it improves our business growth," Arslan said.

Currently, the company has overseas customers from more than 20 countries and regions, including Türkiye, Spain and Dubai.

"Chinese products are popular overseas, and our return customers are increasing day by day," the couple said.

"Both of my grandfathers ran grocery stores for living. At my young age, I would lend a hand in the stores when needed," Arslan said.

For Arslan, selling and buying things was not only an exchange of goods and money, but of happiness. "When a deal is done, I can feel the satisfaction of both sides. It brings a special sense of fulfillment. That's why I decided to go for business as my life career," he said.

Arslan chose to study business administration in a Turkish college. China's large market and huge processing and manufacturing base for a wide variety of commodities made him yearn for the opportunity to go to China.

"China has been developing very fast these years and committed to share its development achievements with the world. By studying in China, I will find more opportunities," he said.

After studying Chinese for nearly two years, Arslan decided to further his study in Tianjin University in 2019.

"I majored in information management and information system. Many of our courses equipped me with basic business knowledge like how to use big data to do business analysis, which is very helpful to me today," Arslan said.

Moreover, Arslan married a native woman in Tianjin, who supported him and helped create their business together.

"I hope we can create our own business brand in the future, and recommend more specialized Chinese products to the world to promote multilateral trade exchanges," the couple said.