More than 20 percent of African people staying in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, are earning more than 30,000 yuan ($4,838) a month, according to a recent survey by Southern Metropolis Daily.

The newspaper in Guangzhou interviewed 204 people from more than 50 African nations.

Of the 165 interviewees who revealed their monthly income, 37 said they earn more than 30,000 yuan a month doing business in the southern city. The figure is higher than the average income of local white-collar workers.

Many African businesspeople think that Guangzhou has a wide range of good-quality products at competitive prices and that the business environment is getting better, the survey found. More than 50 percent of the African businesses in Guangzhou achieve a profit rate of between 50 and 100 percent.

"A shirt purchased at 50 yuan in Guangzhou can change hands for 100 yuan in my African mother-land," an African businessman was quoted as saying.

Garments, silks, ceramics, handicrafts, electronics, toys, shoes and watches are the products many African businesspeople like to purchase in Guangzhou and ship to Africa, the survey said.

Xie Xiaodan, deputy mayor and director of the Guangzhou city bureau of public security, urged departments in his city to offer even better service to foreigners.

Xie dismissed rumors that Guangzhou has now registered more than 600,000 people from African nations and regions.

According to statistics from the city's entry and exit department, Guangzhou has about 120,000 permanent foreign residents, including 16,000 from Africa.

In addition to doing business, African people arrive in Guangzhou for work, study and sightseeing, Xie said.

The African people live in the Dengfeng, Kuangquan, Taojin and Xinshi communities of the city's Baiyun and Yuexiu districts.

Guangzhou welcomes all foreign people who arrive in the city with valid travel documents and visas, while sparing no effort to fight illegal immigration, Xie said.

Peng Peng, a senior researcher with the Guangzhou Academy of Social Science, said departments should step up efforts to curb illegal immigration in the city.

"But the legal interests and rights of the foreigners, including Africans, who arrive in Guangzhou with effective travel documents should be protected according to laws," Peng said.

zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn