Yiwu City in eastern China, renowned as the global capital for small commodities, offers an unparalleled variety of goods, a draw that brought Mika Omuralieva Meerzat, a Kyrgyz jewelry exporter, to establish her second home here.
Mika arrived in Yiwu, home to the world’s largest wholesale market, in 2016. Since then, she has been exporting Chinese fashion jewelry to Central Asia and Europe.
"Why I’m living so long time here because, like we say about fashion and jewelry, you just find all of these items just in Yiwu. Nowhere else," said Mika, founder of Mika Import and Export.
Last year, Mika exported products worth 20 million yuan. But in the fast-paced fashion industry, speed is critical. So she must not only identify trending items quickly, but also deliver them to consumers as quickly as possible.
As Mika explains, Central Asia’s landlocked geography poses logistical challenges: air freight is costly, while road transport is slow. Over the recent years, she has turned to and relied on the Yiwu-Madrid railway, which crosses into Central Asia via northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, reducing transit time to just 12–14 days for her shipments.
"Fashion is changing every day, so we need to be quick to find some new items and even send in the same day," Mika said.
Operational for over a decade, the Yiwu-Madrid line has been instrumental for entrepreneurs like Mika. In the first four months of 2025, the railway handled 85,700 containers, marking a 6.5 percent year-on-year increase.
Mika’s success mirrors broader trade trends. China is Kyrgyzstan’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching 22.7 billion US dollars in 2024, a figure both nations aim to double by 2030.
"Central Asian countries now opening up to China, so many investors going to my country, to Central Asia," Mika added.
Based in China's Yiwu, Kyrgyz entrepreneur exports fashion jewelry to Central Asia
A major port in northern Venezuela came under U.S. airstrikes in the early hours of January 3, which caused extensive damage to civilian infrastructure, destroyed critical medical supplies in a warehouse, and severely impacted centuries-old cultural heritage sites, according to local residents.
The La Guaira Port, a vital hub for imports that support daily life in the region, was heavily damaged during the attack.
Large quantities of medical supplies stored at the port were destroyed. A historic cultural building dating back for some 300 years was also badly damaged by the bombardment.
Residents living near the port recalled the terrifying scenes as explosions shook nearby neighborhoods.
Humberto Bolivar, who lives in a community separated from the port by only a main road, said the blast waves shattered his home's windows, while stray shrapnel struck the water tank on his roof. According to reports, three missiles were fired at the port that night.
Bolivar said that beyond material losses, he is most concerned about the psychological impact on his children, who remain too frightened to leave their home days after the attack.
"The United States invaded our country. The children were frightened. This is not good for them, because it leaves some children with psychological trauma. They do not want to go to school or leave the house, because they are afraid that something worse might happen. We truly do not want this to happen to our country," he said.
Apart from civilian facilities, local cultural heritage site was also affected.
The La Guaira state government building, a structure with nearly 300 years of history and once served as the site of Venezuela's first national customs office, was struck by the force of the explosions.
Windows of the building were shattered, and furniture scattered across the floor.
"As people of La Guaira, we feel deep pain. Our cultural heritage has been bombed. We are living in constant anxiety and suffering, and life can no longer be the same as it was before," said a local named Henry Cumares.
The U.S. side has claimed the airstrikes targeted warehouses allegedly used to store narcotics. However, locals refuted such accusation.
"According to what Donald Trump said, they bombed this place using the excuse that the warehouses here were used to store drugs at the port. But based on the video released by our governor, these warehouses that were burned contained medicine for kidney patients and foods. Many people depend on these supplies to survive. I think the bombing is extremely despicable," said a local resident named Alejandro Capriles.
US strike hits Venezuelan port, wrecking medical supplies, heritage building
