This is how Chinese business owners in Malaga are reinventing themselves

From sewing needles to tools, decoration, kitchen items, toys to mobile phone chargers and items for the home or office. At the end of the 1990s, Chinese shops proliferated in Malaga thanks to a trade that offered a variety of products at affordable prices in shops that were open for long hours.

Two decades later and the change in society's habits, competition from large supermarkets and the rise of e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, AliExpress, Temu and Shein have taken their toll on these entrepreneurs, who are looking for alternatives to adapt to the new times.

What could be bought at the Chinese shop round the corner is now even quicker and more convenient at the click of a button sitting on the sofa and what used to be found at a low price has become more expensive as a result of inflation and increasingly high rents and soaring water and electricity bills.

Chinese shops in Spain are no longer as attractive or competitive as they used to be, nor are Chinese restaurants, which are now incorporating other Asian dishes on their menus to attract clientele and stay afloat.

Chinese business owners are opening tapas bars, nail salons, hairdressers and clothing shops. Ge, a Chinese business owner, was a visionary 15 years ago when he decided to open a fashion shop in Calle Pelayo. "There were no similar businesses in the area and I thought it could work," he says.

He arrived in Spain 24 years ago and after spending eight years in Barcelona he moved to Malaga. Since then he has been running Lencería Mabi. "It's not going badly," he says. "It could be worse, because people are buying more and more on the internet. The good thing is that my shop is in an area where many older people live and they still like to come in, feel the clothes and try them on," he explains in basic Spanish. Despite the difficulties, he says that it was a "good decision".

Susana (as she prefers to be called), who came to Malaga ten years ago from Shanghai, is still running her shop in front of the Hospital Civil thanks to loyal customers, especially now, at the beginning of the school year. "Families come to buy things for school and take other things with them," she says of her business, which is still profitable, but leaves less profit margin: "If I want people to keep coming back, I have to set the prices lower," she says, adding that she is not thinking about changing to another type of business.

There are 8,237 Chinese people registered in Malaga province, some 3,342 of whom live in the city, according to INE data updated to 2024. According to data provided by the Union of Professionals and Self-Employed Workers (UPTA),14 per cent of foreign affiliates to the RETA in Spain are of Chinese origin (66,515). Moreover, more than half of Chinese citizens of working age (55%) are entrepreneurs, compared to 45% who are employed under the general scheme, making it the only community with more self-employed workers than employed workers in Spain.

Eduardo Abad, president of UPTA, recognises the ability of these entrepreneurs to readapt and reinvent themselves. "They have been able to direct their efforts towards the service sector, which is now the main area where new economic activities are consolidating," he explains.

Just before summer Kelly opened Nails Arte in Calle Esperanto. "We meet a demand with a service that sets us apart," says the 35-year-old, who arrived in Spain two decades ago from Zhejiang to join her parents, who at the time ran a Chinese restaurant. "Now they have incorporated more Asian products into their menu, although they still keep the more classic Chinese dishes. It's understandable because customers have become accustomed to new flavours. It's like when I arrived in Spain and my mother gave me a serrano ham sandwich. "I didn't like it then; now I love it," she says.