After 70 years of economic progress, is China on the right road to achieve Xi Jinping’s ‘Chinese dream’?
- China has evolved from an economic backwater into a world economic powerhouse under the Communist Party’s seven-decade rule
- But the world’s second largest economy now faces numerous challenges, including the trade war with the United States
The gigantic bazaar in Baigou, Hebei province is a paradise for shoppers who can pay 100 yuan (US$14) or less for a handbag or suitcase that bears all the similarities to the more expensive Louis Vuitton or Gucci original.
The bazaar, officially known as the Hedao International Trade Centre for Cases and Bags, has 216 escalators to allow shoppers access to over 10,000 stores.
The bazaar symbolises the aspirations of the northern Chinese town, which is around two hours south of Beijing, to become the “Yiwu of the North”. That is a reference to the southern city that has become synonymous with the production of a myriad of cheap made-in-China goods from buttons to baking pans.
Baigou’s dream of finding a place in the global trading landscape has come a long way. According to the town’s local history archive, the collective commune system in rural China in the 1950s wiped out traditional trading, resulting in famine and catastrophe.
The daily grain ration for a farmer in Baigou plunged to just 90 grams (3.2 ounces) in 1960 under the rule of Mao Zedong, also known as Chairman Mao, prompting an underground “ghost” market to develop.
“People gathered, looked at each other and made gestures … then they chatted in private about the trade. But delivery was always made somewhere else” as the private exchange of goods and ration coupons could lead to serious punishment, according to an introduction inside the local museum.