Cheap Chinese goods (Congo, Burma)
Every few months, we hear complaints about cheap Chinese imports undermining local economies. However, from my experience in Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam and Lao, I’ve observed that these affordable imports often boost small traders and sellers, providing them with new opportunities.
A recent read echoed similar sentiment. Tim Butcher writing in his book “Blood River: A Journey to Africa’s Broken Heart” talks about cheap Chinese imports facilitating local commerce in Kasongo, Western Democratic Republic of Congo.
We continued through the market. Under a tree, a young boy was selling water pots made from red, earthy clay. And against the ruins of a building, a woman had hung out some colored cotton cloth for sale as wraps for women. I asked her where the cloth came from, and she told me a story showing that even in a weak economy like the Congo’s, the power of globalization can still be felt.
“The best cloth used to come from Britain and Holland, a long time ago, maybe even a hundred years ago, but it became too expensive. Material from China is the cheapest now. It is not the same quality as the old material, but people buy what they can afford, and that means the cheapest is best. So this material you see today has come to Africa by God only knows what route. It arrives in Kalemie somehow, and from there, people bring it all the way here by bicycle.
I remembered the bike traders I had seen all along the 500-kilometre motorbike route I had just completed from Kalemie. It might beat feebly here in the Congo, but the free market is still strong enough to motivate people to drag bicycles laden with Chinese cloth for vast distances through the tropical bush, to earn a living.”
From Blood River: A Journey to Africa's Broken Heart - Wikipedia
Update: 2023, I found a podcast that features the author talking about the above book. There is one part that was interesting for me. The author talks about time moving backwards in Congo. Recently I was talking to another friend about how Saigon of the late 1960s had advanced computer installations to aid the war efforts, people were learning programming etc, and all that just disappears after the fall of Saigon.