Nigerian content creator helps Chinese farm machinery reach overseas markets

Short videos posted by a Nigerian sales representative in eastern China's Zhejiang province are helping a Chinese farm machinery producer reach overseas customers, with one TikTok post attracting more than 1.2 million views.

Onyekwelu Patrick Chinazam, known by his Chinese name Zheng Zewei, works for Zhejiang Jiying Intelligent Agricultural Machinery Equipment in Changshan county. He is responsible for expanding the company's overseas business and introduces its products to international customers in fluent Chinese.

Zheng focuses mainly on Southeast Asian markets, including Malaysia and Laos. He sells up to 16 machines a month to Malaysia.

He also runs a TikTok account featuring demonstrations of the company's products, including a tracked transporter designed for mountainous terrain. The account has attracted more than 20,000 followers and become an important channel for overseas customers to learn about Chinese farm machinery.

Zheng's connection with China began at a Confucius Institute in Nigeria. Although he studied real estate, he took up Chinese to improve his career prospects. He came to China in 2019 to pursue a master's degree in international Chinese language education in Qufu, Shandong province, and joined the farm machinery company in late 2020. He moved with the company to Changshan in 2023.

Zheng said China's well-developed shipping logistics and efficient cross-border trade services have helped smart farm machinery reach more overseas markets. He said he hopes to bring China's agricultural mechanization experience back to Nigeria.