[1/5] Wang Chunxiang waits for customers as she sells steamed sweet rice cakes on a wheeled cart alongside other street vendors in Shanghai, China, May 21, 2023. REUTERS/Nicoco Chan
SHANGHAI/BEJING, May 30 (Reuters) – Wang Chunxiang pushes a cart through busy areas of Shanghai, playing cat and mouse with authorities while trying to sell pastries. The jobs she could get were not enough to make ends meet.
“Salaries are too low,” the 43-year-old said after serving steamed stir-fried sweet rice cakes to a customer.
“At my age, I could only earn 5,000 to 6,000 yuan (US$868) a month as a cleaner without much knowledge. Rent in Shanghai is so expensive. Even low-quality houses cost 2,000 to 3,000 yuan,” said Wang, who recently resumed after a six-year hiatus.
She can earn about 10,000 yuan in a good month by selling pastries for 15 yuan a pack.
As life returns to normal in China after the pandemic, street vendors are taking to the streets. They are at least trying to supplement their incomes while the economic recovery has been uneven and employment and wage growth have been sluggish.
For decades, street stalls and street vendors – common elsewhere in Asia – have been banned or tightly regulated in many Chinese cities, and authorities consider them unsightly.
However, there are signs that local governments are giving street vendors more leeway and this trend is expected to continue.
Zibo in eastern China caused a media sensation this month after a rush of tourists visiting street food stalls forced authorities to issue warnings about overcrowding.
The Shenzhen Technology Hub, which banned street vending in 1999, will ease restrictions on street stalls from September. Shanghai is seeking public opinion on the revision of street vendor regulations and announced in April that it had set up 74 spots for vendors.
Lanzhou in the northwest announced this month that it would designate street stall areas to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.
“It’s natural for some local governments to try street vending as they face a lot of pressure to stabilize local economies and jobs,” said Bruce Pang, chief economist at Jones Lang Lasalle.
Household income rose 3.8% year-on-year in the first quarter, lagging behind broader economic growth. The labor market remains sluggish and youth unemployment is at a record high.
Economic pressures are forcing retailers to risk fines or having their products confiscated.
Wang Xuexue, 28, who sells flowers from her scooter in Shanghai, prefers to sell her goods at designated locations, which she says are remote and charge fees.
“Of course the authorities are trying to catch us. Otherwise we wouldn’t be running so fast,” said Wang Xuexue, who until recently worked at a flower shop.
Even in Beijing, which President Xi Jinping said should primarily remain a “political hub” with no street economy, street vendors have been spotted at tourist attractions.
Lu Wei, a pen seller, had his own business before the pandemic, but quit the lease in 2020 as sales fell and he could no longer afford the rent. He now advertises his 30-yuan pens on Beijing’s Houhai Lake, although business is sluggish.
“People have no money in their pockets. Even if they do, they don’t want to spend it,” Lu said.
($1 = 6.9121 Chinese Yuan)
Reporting by Nicoco Chan, Ellen Zhang and the Shanghai office; Edited by Sam Holmes
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