Expats help remove garbage along a river. [Photo/zgyww.cn]

A total of 10 expats visited Changchun community on Futian Street, Yiwu to help patrol the river and remove riverside garbage, local media reported on July 17.

They are members of a foreign merchants' branch and come from different countries including Malaysia, Nepal, and Iraq.

Kok Chit Hock from Malaysia is the head of a foreign merchants association in Yiwu. He was recently honored as "the best environmentalist" in Zhejiang province. Futian Street is where he works and lives.

"Yiwu is our home away from home," he said, vowing to protect and improve the city's environment through voluntary community services.

In the city, foreigners are helping to manage traffic, taking part in community service, and mediating business disputes. Scenes like these may be rare in many parts of China, but are common in the country's small-commodity hub.

According to the municipal public security bureau, there are around 30,000 foreign purchasers in Yiwu every day, half of whom live in hotels while the other half live in the city as permanent residents.

Apart from sharing in the dividends of China's reform and opening-up in the small-commodity capital, foreign businessmen have also been contributing their efforts and wisdom to the city's development and social governance.