Whether it is selling winter coats in a Mafia-run market in Moscow, running a restaurant in Iraq or peddling foreign shoes in a city that is the heart of Spain's shoe industry, risk is nothing new to the entrepreneurs of Wenzhou, who scour their country and the world for a good business opportunity.
Some even invested in coal, although it is a sector that is highly regulated and largely owned by the state, requires heavy investment and, until recently, offered low returns. Now, thanks to a surge in demand in the last two years, they are reaping a big reward as the price of 'black gold' reaches record levels and is likely to stay there for at least another 12 months.
Wenzhou businessmen have invested four billion yuan in 400 mines in Shanxi, the central province that produces a third of China's coal, and account for annual output of 80 million tonnes - 20 per cent of the total in Shanxi and 5 per cent of national output.
Last year, China's coal industry reported a net profit level of 6.04 per cent, one of the highest on record and more than double the 2.57 per cent average for the period between 1998 and 2003.
This year has been even better, with prices rising more than 40 per cent since January and not expected to fall before the end of next year, as energy shortages that began in the second half of 2002 worsen, driving up the price of coal. Of national output, 54 per cent is consumed by power stations.
The industry wants the government to lift all price controls on coal. Currently, there are two prices - one is set by the government for coal sold to power stations and the other is the free market price.
