Road to Africa

　　A young Chinese man arrived in Ghana in 2000 with only $700 in his pocket. That’s the firstscene of He Liehui’s African story， and what laterbecame the starting point of his business empire，an international corporation that engages in internationaltrade， investment， cultural exchange，tourism， real estate， industrial park constructionand resource development.

　　A law school graduate， He， 38， believes hisbusiness adventure is all about destiny， whichconnects him with Africa.

　　Good reputation

　　During the early days in Ghana life was verytough， He recalled. For almost three months hehad nothing to eat but potatoes. Everyday hewent out early and returned late， selling his productsfrom door to door. Looking back， he pridedhimself for having such an experience and decidedto name his daughter “Ghana” to rememberthose days.

　　In 2001， he took an order worth $700，000 forcloth， the largest sum he ever received. “For me，such a large sum of money was an astronomicalfigure，” He said.

　　Excited with joy at this opportunity， He beganto plan on setting up a company and decided toname it Touchroad， which means “a road to theworld” in Chinese (da zhi lu). Unfortunately， whenthe production plan was finally fulfilled， the clientsaid the products didn’t come up to the requirements，claiming a compensatory payment of$200，000.

　　He later found that when doing business inAfrican countries， people prefer to evaluate theproducts by common sense， rather than specificevaluation criteria. According to theircontract， he had the right to refuse payingcompensation， but he still chose to admithis mistakes and satisfied the claim.“I believe that honesty and integrityare the most important businessethics，” He said. “If a company isconsidered trustworthy， it means thatmore clients will come to you and youcan create opportunities.”

　　This case earned him a goodreputation. Upon hearing the story，many Nigerian businessmen cameto He， and even agreed to pay before receivingproducts.

　　Friendship over money

　　When dealing with the locals， he found a similaritybetween Chinese and African cultures： theyboth value friendship， so most conflicts can beresolved through communication and negotiation，rather than resorting to the law.

　　“Generally speaking， African businessmenvalue friendship over money. They will introducetheir clients to their friends， even though they arecompetitors selling the same kind of products，”He said.

　　He also believed in “never putting interestsfirst， but love and goodness in human nature.”

　　The same belief shortened the distance between himself and the locals. He made a lot ofAfrican friends， one of whom even saved his lifefrom the Lagos armory explosion in 2002， whichleft 2，000 killed and 1，100 missing. Before theNigerian friend risked his life to drive him outof danger， he had been trapped for four hours，witnessing all the horrors and sufferings.The deep friendship moved him deeply.

　　Over the past decade his company，Touchroad， has established businessrelations with more than 25 Africancountries and opened subsidiaries oroffices in eight of them.

　　But he still sticks by his belief throughsharing the opportunities with others.

　　He is always willing to help Chinesecompanies interested in the Africanmarket. More than 1，000 Chinese companies andbusinessmen have entered the African marketwith his help.

　　“In business， I always believe in the idea ofsharing， because no one can monopolize theworld. I would like to let more people benefit fromthe good opportunities and meanwhile I couldmake more friends， who will bring me more opportunities，”He said.

　　Tangible and intangible

　　As the economic and trade contacts betweenChina and Africa continued to increase， moreand more people came to He for help. An idea ofestablishing a communication platform appealedto He and it was soon put into practice. In March2008， the first Touchroad China-Africa InvestmentForum was held in Shanghai. More than 40countries have registered to attend the fifth forum，which will be held both in China and Africalater this year.

　　“It was originally an attempt only， so I was surprisedto see my African friends value it so much.

　　The success was far beyond my expectation，” saidHe. Over 500 Chinese entrepreneurs and representativesof governments and enterprises from18 African countries attended the meeting.

　　During the World Expo held in Shanghai in2010， He hosted delegations of governments，NGOs and enterprises from nearly 30 Africancountries. Some officials suggested that he set upan African center to further promote China-Africaeconomic and trade exchange. He was persuadedby the idea and at the end of 2013， the Africancenter was completed in Shanghai. It will open topublic this year. Over 40 African countries havesigned on to set up their Consulate General inShanghai and government offices in the center，which will also house a visa application center， aninvestment and trade promotion center， a culturaland arts center， an African tourism promotioncenter and an African exhibition center.

　　“I will keep improving the African center andTouchroad China-Africa Investment Forum， thetangible and intangible platforms， to make mycontribution to China-Africa exchange，” He said.“We will increase our investment in Africa， creatingmore job opportunities and promoting economicgrowth. Meanwhile， we will help as manyChinese enterprises as we can， clearing away theirdifficulties in investing in Africa， making peopleknow more about Africa and promoting China-Africa communication.”