A war-torn Afghan carpet dealer sought every opportunity at the 4th China International Import Expo to promote his exquisite handmade carpets and rugs and help his fellow Afghan compatriots.

Ali Azghar Faiz arranged hand-made carpets and rugs on display at his CIIE booth.

Ali Azghar Faiz, 27, said that the country's economy depends on agriculture and handicrafts. Due to COVID-19 and the domestic situation, people are facing financial difficulties. "So it's time for us to do our best to help the country: to help them promote and sell products and bring more income to the people they need now."

He brought 3.5 tons of handmade carpets and carpets, estimated to have more than 200 varieties, and displayed them in the area of ​​his brand Biraro, which means "brother" in Pashto, the main language of Afghanistan.

"Why did we choose this name? Because of this name and the philosophy behind this company, we want to make the relationship between China and Arab brothers like brothers. Our relationship with China has always been very good in history. We want to make this relationship even stronger. Strong, more like a family to each other."

According to Faiz, every carpet is unique. "We work with different people from different parts of Afghanistan. We do our best to bring all kinds of Afghan carpets here and become a good collection of Afghan art.

"Each carpet has a unique tradition. For example, the red carpet comes from southern Afghanistan and is related to pomegranate. In this way, we promote Afghan pomegranate.

"Different colors mean different pomegranate flavors. The beauty of the colorful carpet means that this product is very delicious, sweet and sour."

A big red carpet from southern Afghanistan is about pomegranates. The different colors on it represent the different flavors of pomegranates.

Faiz first came to China in 2014. "I was studying economics in Afghanistan at the time, but my father traded between Afghanistan, India, Saudi Arabia, Dubai and Kazakhstan."

Then he wondered why he couldn't send his products to China, the world's largest market. He dropped out of university in Kabul and decided to find a way to China somehow.

He spent nearly half a year knocking on every door to get a scholarship or university admission to come to China. In the end, he won a scholarship and had the opportunity to study in China. Graduated from University of Science and Technology Beijing in 2019.

"I learned Chinese first, and then I can speak Chinese to see how this amazing market works." Around 2019, he started his business in China.

"Afghanistan and China are very close countries and we have maintained a good relationship throughout history. Unfortunately, when I came here in 2014 and told people that I was an Afghan, they were surprised by the way Afghans looked. So it means they are not familiar with Afghans. They don't know Afghanistan. They don't even know anything about Afghanistan," Faiz told Shanghai Daily.

Therefore, he feels it is necessary to bring Afghan culture and handicrafts to China, so that people here can better understand Afghanistan.

"How to change this will be a cultural exchange between Afghanistan and China. This is the first time you see an Afghan product around you, you can touch it and feel it," Faiz said. "War is only part of the situation, but there are a lot of amazing people living there with a long history. We hope to establish cultural exchanges between Afghanistan and China."

Ali Azghar Faiz brought about 3.5 tons of handmade carpets and carpets to the CIIE, estimated to have more than 200 varieties.

Carpet is the industry in which he works. "I know how difficult it is for people who work in this industry to make carpets, and I know how difficult it is." And those who make carpets often have very bad financial conditions.

"This is how I push myself to work on imported carpets because many people need it, especially these days, because the COVID-19 and the situation in Afghanistan have made the situation worse," Faiz said. "Therefore, people like me outside Afghanistan need to be able to do something that can help the people in Afghanistan."

Fortunately, it is easy to import such products into China on issues such as customs clearance.

The first batch of carpets he imported into China weighed about 2 tons, and sales benefited 2,000 families in Afghanistan.

"A big carpet requires four to seven people to work, and sometimes eight people," he said. "These people do not come from one family. They come from different families. Each family has one or two children. So this means that the family can have income."

This year is the second time his brand has come to the CIIE. He knew for the first time that the CIIE was on the day of the ceremony in 2018, and he was too late to participate in the exhibition. In 2019, it was too late for him to apply for the exhibition.

"Finally, last year we achieved this goal. We participated in the CIIE and brought our own products. In the second year, we had more space and more different and colorful carpets, and we also had some Handicrafts," he said.

"We also plan to bring pine nuts, but the flight from Afghanistan to China is a bit late. So we can't bring them into the Expo, but soon next week, we will bring them in the Greenland Global Commodity Trade Show pavilion. "At the Hongqiao hub. "

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