Chinese expatriate entrepreneurs find a new gold rush destination in Mexico
- Seeking economic opportunity, Chinese merchants build bustling markets, sell Made in China goods and deal with occasional resistance from Mexican vendors
- Along with the migrant influx, Chinese brands including DiDi and BYD are gaining greater exposure in Mexico
Within four years, a Fujianese businessman has built a “Chinatown” from scratch in central Mexico City, proudly claiming it as “China speed”. Now he has bigger plans.
Lin Yun, who came to Mexico in the summer of 2019, is the designer and commander-in-chief of four wholesale markets hosting around 4,500 stores along Jose Maria Izazaga Street.
It used to be a neighbourhood without a trace of Chineseness, but is now peppered with red lanterns and Chinese warning signs and billboards, and most importantly, flooded with a dazzling array of small products – mostly made in China.
“I basically only sleep for four or five hours a day. The rest of my time is all spent receiving or responding to clients,” said Lin, sitting beside the solid wood kung fu tea table in his office that overlooks a five-storey white building across the street with 13 block Chinese characters hanging on its wall. The characters read “China Guangzhou International Commercial City, Wholesale Centre” – one of his markets.
“They come to me for all kinds of business, some are looking for warehouses, some for stores, some wishing to join the company, some asking how to come to Mexico. All kinds of questions,” said Lin, 45. “If I don’t look at my phone for an hour, there will be 100 unread messages.”
