Traders from communist China flood Dubai markets

The latest "entrepreneurs" to hit the streets of Dubai are citizens of communist China.

You see them mostly as bag ladies or gents on popular boulevards of Dubai offering items from pencils and toys and games to wondrously cheap and obviously copied DVDs and watches - to whoever is interested.

And interest is there.

Their presence brings to mind the 1990s surge in mainly Russian "entrepreneurs" from the CIS after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The items of sale differ though. CIS visitors offered mainly homemade items like rice pearl strings, and objects like binoculars, ancient cameras, telescopes and knives.

However, the modus operandi of both appears to be the same. Like their CIS counterparts, Chinese traders too hawk their wares in the souks - lining them up on the pavement for gawking shoppers, or carry them about in brightly coloured voluminous plastic bags.

Both represent existing or erstwhile Communist regimes - but their entrepreneurial abilities bespeak of the inherent skill of an ancient tradespeople.

The Chinese businesspeople are not only independently or individually conducting business, they also appear to have found their feet quickly and set up a network of businesses in various souks - as is evident from the complaints of shopkeepers of competitive items. Little is known as they are reticent about their activities.

It is perhaps the bargain shops which laid the scent for Chinese traders to come to a formerly alien place for them - such as the Gulf.

The mushrooming Dh1, Dh5, Dh10 and Dh20 discount stores that sprang up all over the place a couple of years ago, were mostly stocked with low priced Chinese products.

Dubai - which represents the souk of the Gulf - has witnessed several nations over the past years coming in to trade and lay claims to the bottom of the market.

Early in the 1980s, Far East powerhouses such as Taiwan and South Korea flooded the lower end of the market. But as their economies matured and went upscale and therefore, more expensive, they vacated their market segment.

The space was filled in during the later part of the 1980s and early to mid-nineties by South East Asian marketeers such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia etc - who too in time proceeded to go upmarket.

Unlike CIS traders who never really got a hold on the market, Chinese suppliers have been far more successful. They have made the Asian giant the undisputed king of the competitive end of the market here.

They have captured the lower end of the price-sensitive and high volume market and flooded the souks of Dubai with manufactured items ranging from safety and hair pins, to electrical fuses, hammers, nails, plastic products, towels, umbrellas, tools - almost anything.