"You come for the business, and you end up staying for the life." For Dário Silva, Chairman of the Board of PorCham Greater China, this sentence sums up his 20 years in the country.
Known in China as Xi Yao, Silva fits several roles into one day in Guangzhou. In the morning, from his office in Haizhu District, he calls partners in Portuguese-speaking countries and advises overseas firms entering the Chinese market. Outside the room is a large showroom of Chaozhou porcelain, which he promotes to international buyers with a family-run Chaozhou business. At midday, he visits a Mexican restaurant he has invested in, which is now expanding. He is also an arbitrator with the Guangzhou and Heyuan arbitration commissions, helping resolve commercial disputes.
His story began in 2006, when he first came to China in search of electronics. He went from Hong Kong to Shenzhen's Huaqiangbei market and found that items such as USB drives and memory cards sold very profitably in Portugal.
At first he spent three months in China and three at home. Gradually, he went back "just once a year, basically." Around 2012, he decided to settle.
"Macao is an essential point for the Portuguese-speaking countries. And you also have Hong Kong operating as an international center." The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, he adds, also has an international community and good policies for foreigners and foreign-invested businesses.
His family once worried about his move. "They didn't really understand China as a whole," he says. Yet after his parents visited and saw the real China, they relaxed.
"If I am in Portugal, I need to actually drive a car, go to the supermarket, buy things, come back home," he says. "Here, I open Meituan, and in 30 minutes, I get all the ingredients delivered to my home." The pace of life suits him very well. "In one day, I can do five, six meetings. I like this kind of speed."
Silva met his wife, Cocomi Yang, at a friend's dinner about four years ago. Her family roots are in Hunan, and she grew up in Guangzhou. Now, she is also Silva's closest working partner. "He focuses on the big picture, while I focus on the details," Yang says, calling herself his "secretary-general."
At weekends they cook for friends at home, and Silva has learned to make Yang's hometown dish of stir-fried pork with green pepper. "His stomach is already completely accustomed to Chinese food," Yang says. "He may have a foreign face, but he has a Chinese heart."
For Silva, the Greater Bay Area is both a workplace and a place to build a life. "Home is a place where you and your loved ones can be safe, live a comfortable life, provide a good education for your children and provide them with a good future," he says. "This is where I will live; this is where I will set my roots; this is where the next generation will grow."
Reporter | Chen Siyuan
Video | Chen Siyuan, Ou Xiaoming
Coordinator | Hu Nan
Special Guests | Dário Silva, Cocomi Yang, Roger Manuel Alvarado and Marco Arciniega
