聊聊地摊经济
What do the following Chinese entrepreneurs have in common? Liu Chuanzhi, who founded Lenovo; Zong Qinghou, billionaire and the founder of Wahaha, China's leading drinks brand; Richard Liu Qiangdong, the man behind China's e-commerce behemoth JD.com; Jack Ma, unarguably China's best-known business magnate and Alibaba's founding father; and Luo Yonghao, the founder of Smartisan and a rising star in live-stream e-commerce. They were all, at one point in their lives, participated in what is now known as the “street stall economy”.
Premier Li Keqiang put the idea on the map when he visited the eastern city of Yantai in Shandong province a few days ago and said, “The street-stall and small-store economy is an important source of employment and human culinary culture — it’s part of China’s livelihood just as much as larger, high-end businesses.” Yet, this is not a novel concept. If anything, the stall economy is almost as old as prostitution and storytelling.
Perhaps it is no coincidence that during the Two Sessions last month Premier Li told reporters something as revealing as shocking: 600 million Chinese still live on monthly salaries of 1,000 yuan. The numbers took by surprise many well-wheeled urbanites who get a glimpse of China mostly through their unrepresentative WeChat Moments. After all, the haves tend to hang out with the haves; the have-nots cluster around the have-nots.
The grim reality has been exacerbated by the specter of mass unemployment, thanks to covid-19. As the economy goes back to normal, street stalls, once scorned, are making a comeback. The government hopes the laid off will turn to street stalls, at least temporarily, just as those who lost their jobs amid covid-19 became Didi drivers overnight.
It is all well and good that hawkers will not, at least not for a while, be whisked away. But I have long seen street vendors as resilient, resourceful, and streetsmart entrepreneurs. A few years ago, I paid a tribute to three of them in a post and ended it with these lines:
They contribute to economy, but are not credited, not even noticed. What they care most, perhaps, is through what they do they can make a living and provide for their families. To me, they are a living example of tough-mindedness and a delightful source of inspiration. Hats off to them!
孟庆伟Justin，公众号：孟庆伟英文写作街头创业者画像 | 英文原创
I still vaguely remember that when I was about two years old, my parents worked as part-time street vendors. At the time, they both had government jobs, but to pay off their debts and make a little more towards a better life, they set up a street booth near a square after work, selling socks, shoes, and toiletries. It was kind of unusual back then: public servants were highly regarded, and people were concerned about how others would see them. Not my parents. They were proud, knowing that through hard work they were in control of their lives, and mine too.
My parents never became full-time entrepreneurs. But I remember the entrepreneurial vim and conviction in them. My mother would always say, you can always make something out of nothing. I gather the bigwigs mentioned in the introduction must have shared the same belief. There is no shame over hawking towards a better life.
孟庆伟 Justin
个人微信 ID：justinqmeng
现象级英语联合创始人
《经济学人》11 年研究者
雅思写作 8 分，口语 8 分
题图：Eric jumping on the bandwagon of the street stall economy on behalf of Phenomenal English
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