Full coverage: 2015 NPC & CPPCC Sessions
Yiwu, in east China's Zhejiang province, is famous for its small commodity trade and vibrant flea markets. Tens of thousands of foreign traders make their way to the city every year, but a rising number of economic disputes are occurring between them and the locals. Several years ago, a mediation group was set up there to help solve the disputes.
Tirera Sourakhata, a Senegalese businessman, has worked in Yiwu for eight years. Since 2014, he has been involved with the city's mediation committee, and the job has become an important part of his life.
"I went to Tirera, who was among the first to join our group, and he couldn't believe it at that time. He asked why a government officer was looking for him. He was very interested after I explained and he is glad to have joined us," said Chen Jinyan, director of mediation committee for foreign-related disputes.
The mediation group has solved more than 170 disputes in less than two years, with a success rate of more than 90 percent. Chen said there are 11 foreigners from 11 countries among 34 mediators on the board. The initial goal of hiring foreign mediators was simply to help with language barriers, but their experience and cultural advantages has helped to achieve better results.
As one of the strongest members of the team, Sourakhata is adapting to the work of facing angry clients.
"We are meeting with clients like that every day. Some disputants even came in with brutal curses. We have already become used to that, as they lost trust upon each other. Although they came angrily, we still shall talk with them. It's alright. We are accustomed to that, and we also understand their feelings," he said.
Mediating has helped Sourakhata to better understand China and to be more successful in his business. He says he owes much of the success of his company, one of the biggest Yiwu-Africa trading companies to the mediation group.
"A country would develop without any doubt if people worked like Chinese. It would be so good for countries like our Senegal to learn developing patterns of China," he said.
As a mediator, Sourakhata believes that he has made contributions to Yiwu; as a businessman, he feels positive about the future.
