Zeng Changbiao is bullish about North Korea as the first foreigner allowed to run a major retail outlet in the long-closed country.
'The country is not as most people imagine, with no buying power,' said the man who leased the Number One department store in Pyongyang for 10 years. 'They have buying power, but nothing to spend it on. They have been squirreling the money for years.
'Take school bags, travel bags and colour televisions. They have never seen them and consider them new things,' he said. 'Everyone I have met in North Korea, from officials to ordinary people, is desperate to improve the economy and raise living standards. This desire has been suppressed for decades and is bursting out, like steam from a volcano.'
Mr Zeng, 36, is chairman of the Zongzu group, from Wenzhou, home to some of China's most restless and aggressive businesspeople who scour China, and the world, for opportunities.
For him, North Korea is the last undeveloped market among China's neighbours. Chinese businessmen have poured into Russia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar, with mixed results.
'Only North Korea is waiting to be developed. Once a closed market is open, the first opportunity is trade,' said Mr Zeng. 'This is the chance I have been waiting for since 1997.'
It was that year he began making regular trips into North Korea from Shenyang, the city where he is based, until deciding now was the time to make a large-scale commitment.
