How Wang Shukun became a big bee

Wang Shukun, who has lived in Kenya for three years and is now a business development executive, is doing quite well as his African alter ego. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Chinese workers are finding that adopting an African name can help strengthen bonds of trust.

When Wang Shukun was studying English at the Tianjin Foreign Studies University, he adopted Eric as his given foreign name, a practice common in China for students of foreign languages.

The name was trendy, easy to pronounce and according to him, short thus easy to remember. "It only has four letters."

But Wang, now 25 and working in Kenya, had no idea at the time that he would be given yet another name, an African name rich in cultural, relationship and even personal significance.

Wang is not the only Chinese in Africa who is finding that names carry great weight in the continent. It is a discovery that seems to give the lie to the assertion of Shakespeare's Juliet, who tells Romeo, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

After completing his studies in 2012, Wang got a job with Tongya Automobile and enthusiastically chose to come to Kenya as its sales agent.

He was able to put his newly minted English to good use, confidently introducing himself as Eric. It cut out the time that would be needed to teach locals how to pronounce his Mandarin name, he says. "It also showed that I was already breaking the ice of cultural barriers before starting business meetings. Success was therefore easily achieved."

Unfortunately the parent company was forced to restructure its operations following the death of the founder. The four sons inherited and divided the business. Eric had his stint in Kenya cut short.