In China, the Rich Get Richer
A report on some of Beijing’s small businesses
Sound of vendors hawking.
Jade: Here at the Silk Market, the third floor is crowded with small businesses: clothing shops hawking handmade goods. At least fifteen of these shops compete for business, vendors jostling to attract customers’ attention. The Chinese government has been encouraging a consumer economy, and an emerging middle class has begun to spend more, boosting China’s domestic economy. However, China’s booming economy growth has slowed, so we are here to look at some of Beijing’s independent stores and see how small businesses are impacted by economic changes.
Most of the shops cater to foreigners: generic western names decorate the storefronts, David Tailoring, Tony & Tony, and Lena Tailoring are just a few. Vendors stand in the doorways and call out to Westerners in English.
Trying to understand the impact of this phenomenon, we are here with shop owner Li.
Li: Speaks Chinese
Voiceover: Were our shop economies better before these changes or now? It’s gotten progressively worse. It was better before the Olympics. Before the recession.
Jade: Li explained that the recession had hit them hard because less foreigners were coming to Beijing. When I asked if the government’s encouragements domestic consumerism had helped balance out the loss of foreign business, she hadn’t heard of it.
Voiceover: Before, there were few companies or businesses, but now many companies and businesses have come to China, and now things are more expensive but our salaries are low. Now, the economy is not good.
Jade: Westerners have a tendency to view China’s unparalleled economic growth as universally impressive and good, but a look at everyday shops that we might assume would benefit from this economic explosion shows the hard truth about the fabled Chinese economy. While large corporations see huge profits shooting in a seemingly unending upward trend, small business owners shoulder the burden of the difficulties of the current economic transitions.
