Mira Pages, a Nigerian beauty parlor and salon, is among a growing number of African-owned businesses that have taken root in the Chinese capital.
Beijing has welcomed numerous foreign-funded small businesses in recent years as people from across the world are drawn by the city's dynamism and potential.
Shop owner Akinade Iyanuo-Luwa Dolapo has called the city home for a decade.
"I first came to China in 2011. Actually, marriage brought me to China. My husband works in China. And we got married and I had to move. He works in Beijing, so I had to come to Beijing," Dolapo told China Global Television Network (CGTN) in a recent interview at her place of business.
Dolapo's salon helps serve the hairstyle needs of the city's sizable community of African residents as well as people of all different backgrounds.
"We have a dreadlocks line. We have stuff for dreadlocks as well. We have a serum. We have a deep conditioner. We have a protein line as well. We have (something) for everything and more is coming," Dolapo said.
"We have Chinese clients, we have white clients, we have black clients. Let's just say all races. So, for our salon, we cut across all races, we cut across all textures. We do Chinese, we do white (people), even if you're Latino -- all hair textures," she added.
To Dolapo, Beijing is a vibrant global city that embraces people from all over the world.
"Thank you to Beijing for giving foreigners the opportunity to expand ourselves, expand our talent," she said.
The Chinese capital has introduced further measures to make it more convenient for foreign entrepreneurs to start a business, including by streamlining the procedures for obtaining business licenses by foreigners.
Dolapo said she sees a promising future for her business in Beijing thanks to all the policy support and a favorable environment.
Nigerian hair salon thrives in Beijing
The 11th Beijing Xiangshan Forum opened in Beijing on Friday morning with hotspots around the world and security cooperation taking the center stage.
The opening ceremony was attended by more than 600 official representatives from over 100 countries and international organizations, including nearly 300 heads of official delegations and officials from various countries. The forum is held with the theme of "Promoting Peace for a shared future".
China's Defense Minister Dong Jun attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech. He first read out a congratulatory letter from President Xi Jinping to the forum. Then, he mentioned in his speech the current hot issues including the Ukrainian crisis and the ongoing Palestine-Israel conflict.
Dong said "there is no winner in a war and a conflict, and there is no way out if we just confront each other." He also stressed that promoting peace talks is the only way out, and the fundamental way out.
Two plenary sessions were held after the opening ceremony. At the first session, participants exchanged views on "security cooperation and prosperity and stability in the Asia-Pacific region", and official representatives from Vietnam, Singapore, Pakistan, Fiji, Russia and Malaysia spoke at the meeting.
The theme of the second plenary session was "multipolarization and the direction of international order", and defense ministers or military generals from six countries including Cambodia, Tanzania, Cameroon and Iran delivered speeches.
The topics all focus on security hotspots. Participants include not only developing and developed countries, but also representatives, experts and scholars from the closely-watched countries such as the United States, Russia, and Ukraine.
In interviews, many participants said that the Beijing Xiangshan Forum is committed to promoting dialog, exchanges and cooperation among defense agencies, militaries and international organizations of various countries, and is playing an active role in promoting regional security and stability and maintaining world peace and development.
The ongoing Beijing Xiangshan Forum, which runs until Saturday, will also hold eight parallel group sessions, focusing on themes such as the correct way for China and the United States to get along, European security trends and Middle East peace vision. This year, a new session on outer space security has been set up for participants to jointly discuss issues on outer space security governance.
Initiated in 2006, the Beijing Xiangshan Forum is a high-level security and defense forum in the Asia-Pacific with significant international influence.
11th Beijing Xiangshan Forum opens with focus on hotspots, security cooperation
