I would probably call it the Chinese invasion of the local market were it not for the seeming friendliness of this invasion to consumers. People are lining up at the cash registers with baskets filled with non-durable consumer items that include kitchenware, school supplies, home decors, electrical supplies, hand tools, RTWs, shoes, toiletries, junk food and what have you. That the quality of the products is not that good is beside the point. What matters to consumers is that their cash can buy more at these stores (there are 3 in Vigan) selling made-in-China (some I think are made in Korea) products. Don’t bother reading the labels, unless you know Mandarin or perhaps Cantonese. And, caveat emptor, what you see on the label is not exactly what you get. Visiting the stores is like deja vu, reminding me of stores in China and Hong Kong train stations, and those factory outlets where tour guides bring tourists so their travel agencies can get commissions from the sales.

While producers and retailers of local goods (most of which relatively cost more than these made-in-China goods) may complain of the competition, hey, it’s laissez faire – freedom of enterprise. Blame the World Trade Organization if you like, but there’s no opting out of economic integration of domestic markets. But do we really have to import hand towels, plastic hangers and even toothpicks from China? Couldn’t we produce them right here in the Philippines? Yes, but the Chinese produce them more cheaply than we could, thus they can sell them at low, low prices in our local markets, so we might as well buy from them. And then again, because of trade liberalization, even locally made aprons face stiff competition from Chinese-made ones.

It’s not only the Philippines that’s being flooded with products made in the “factory of the world.” It is likely that the pair of Nike shoes you received from a relative in the US is made by a Nike subcontractor in China. Having co-existed with the Filipino-Chinese for centuries, we Filipinos know that the business acumen and enterprising spirit of the Chinese race are embedded in their culture. What amazes me is how capitalism thrives under the socialist regime in China.

Meanwhile, Chinese goods continue to flood our markets; one need only to go to Divisoria to discover the many tiangge selling RTWs, bags, fashion accessories at such cheap prices that even Imelda Marcos goes there to buy. On the flipside, the Philippines gets to sell to China, too. In fact we are selling much more to the Chinese than we are buying from them, according to the Philippine embassy in Beijing. We export, among other things, electronics, automotive parts and fresh fruits to the Chinese market. So we can’t really complain about Chinese goods invading local markets when we are enjoying a much larger market in mainland China, all 1.3 billion of them.

Filed under: Economics, Local scene, November 2006 | You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.