China turns to ‘street vendor economy’ to help manage unemployment crisis

New policy to encourage street vendors is backed by Premier Li Keqiang as a way to create self-employed businesses to absorb newly unemployed

Policy is a U-turn for the government, which previously cracked down on street vendors as part of urban rejuvenation programmes

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In a visit to the city of Yantai in Shandong province this week, Premier Li Keqiang said street stalls and small shops “are important sources of jobs” and an integral part of people’s normal lives. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 8:15pm, 5 Jun 2020Updated: 10:58pm, 5 Jun 2020

China has turned to a “street vendor economy” – encouraging people to set up open-air stalls as full or part-time jobs – amid an unprecedented wave of unemployment caused by the economic fallout following the coronavirus outbreak.

The policy change, promoted by Premier Li Keqiang, came as tens of millions of workers have lost their jobs due to the business closures and transport disruptions over the last few months. It also marks a U-turn from the Communist Party’s previous efforts to clamp down on street vendors as part of its effort to tighten control of urban life.

Street vending, often a way for the urban poor and migrants from rural areas to make a living, has until now been viewed as an eyesore by China’s urban authorities as cities sought to enhance their urban landscapes with skyscrapers, squares and even fake antique city appearances.

As most street vendors and temporary stalls are not properly licensed, their existence was also seen as a way to evade rent and taxes. The capital city of Beijing took extreme measures in a massive beautification campaign in 2017 by shutting down small shops and cracking down on vendors, kicking out hundreds of thousands migrant workers as members of an unwelcome “low-end population”.

They are part of China’s vitality just like those high-end, great and classy businesses … self-employed businesses must survive and thrive so that our country can get better

Li Keqiang

But the Chinese government’s attitude toward street vendors has started to change as employment, instead of growth, became the new economic priority for 2020.

China turns to ‘street vendor economy’ to help manage unemployment crisis

New policy to encourage street vendors is backed by Premier Li Keqiang as a way to create self-employed businesses to absorb newly unemployed Policy is a U-turn for the government, which previously cracked down on street vendors as part of urban rejuvenation programmes

New policy to encourage street vendors is backed by Premier Li Keqiang as a way to create self-employed businesses to absorb newly unemployed

Policy is a U-turn for the government, which previously cracked down on street vendors as part of urban rejuvenation programmes