The cultural foundation of African Chinese trading networks: a case study in the Yiwu marketplace

This article explores the complex interactions between Chinese suppliers and African traders in China, who form economic partnerships by negotiating their cultural perceptions of each other. The study is based on ethnographic research conducted in Yiwu, a major trading hub in China that attracts a significant number of African traders. It highlights how cross-cultural trading alters the local market's cultural foundation towards a hybrid form. Furthermore, African traders in China use cultural learning and adaptation to bridge the gap between Chinese suppliers and African consumers, acting as both economic intermediaries and cultural brokers. These traders navigate stereotypes, negotiate credit relationships, and establish strong ties with suppliers to secure beneficial deals. Their success relies not only on economic strategies but also on their cultural skills in the migration process to change perceptions on both sides of the transaction. This research extends beyond the network approach to examine how migrant entrepreneurship can be shaped by acquired symbolic and linguistic capital in negotiating unequal cross-group relationships in the global market.