Hawkers back on China’s streets as economic recovery teeters

For decades, street stalls and hawkers – common elsewhere in Asia – have been banned or tightly regulated in many Chinese cities, with authorities seeing them as unsightly.

There are signs, however, that local governments are giving hawkers more leeway, a trend expected to continue.

Zibo in eastern China became a media sensation this month after a rush of tourists visiting street food stalls forced authorities to issue warnings about overcrowding.

The tech hub of Shenzhen, which banned hawking in 1999, will ease restrictions on street stalls from September. Shanghai is seeking public opinion on revising hawker regulations and in April said it had set up 74 spots for vendors.

Lanzhou in the northwest said this month it would designate areas for street stalls as it sought to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship.

Household income grew 3.8% year-on-year in the first quarter, lagging broader economic growth. The job market remains sluggish with youth unemployment at a record high.

Economic pressure is forcing hawkers to risk fines or having their products confiscated.

Wang Xuexue, 28, who sells flowers off her scooter in Shanghai, prefers to hawk her goods away from designated areas, which she says are out-of-the-way and charge fees.

“Of course authorities try to catch us. Otherwise we wouldn’t run so fast,” said Wang Xuexue, who worked in a flower shop until recently.

Even in Beijing, which President Xi Jinping said should remain above all a “political center” without a street economy, hawkers were seen at tourist spots.

Lu Wei, a pen seller, had his own store before the pandemic but canceled the lease in 2020 as sales dropped and he could no longer afford rent. He now touts his 30-yuan pens along Beijing’s Houhai lake, although business is slow.

“People have no money in their pockets. Even if they do, they don’t want to spend it,” Lu said.