China Red Cross Primary Market at the Sino-Vietnamese Border: Material Discrepancies Result in Disparate Price

There are two main characters in the featured goods imported from Vietnam: fruit and mahogany. “How much more fruit can we sell? How much profit can we have?” The merchants of Pingxiang’s mahogany are a little proud of their tone. They either set up processing factories in Vietnam or directly buy semi-finished furniture from Vietnamese. The advantage of the border location makes this a place. Mahogany furniture wholesale market. But even here, the price of mahogany furniture is still high and jaw-dropping. From Vietnam’s Tongji to Pingxiang’s Puzhai, business-savvy businessmen have earned a lot of money on this mahogany road.

Puzhai Village: The Largest Inter-city Trade Point

The Puzhe Village in Pingxiang City is the largest border-crossing point on the China-Vietnam border, 15 kilometers from the city. In the early morning of the morning, a large convoy of vehicles carrying Vietnamese license plates entered through the national border next to the boundary pillar 1091 at the Sino-Vietnamese border. Several Vietnamese women with pointed masks drove through the smoke from the wheel and carried the shoulderblade. A trembling walk into the door - behind them is the border with China, Wenlong County, Liangshan Province, Vietnam.

In more than 1,000 shops in PuZhai, more than 500 are operating mahogany furniture. Looking back at the PZ from the boundary pillars, there are many shops on the narrow land between the mountains. Large freight yards for loading and unloading imported tropical fruits and hotels, restaurants, and small shops selling daily necessities and Vietnamese goods are located at the foothills of the foothills, row upon row, and bustling. As the mountain passes over a steep slope into a gentle zone, the mahogany furniture exchange market presents another face.

Compared with the foothills, the mahogany furniture market is neat and quiet. The wall-covered furniture market is dominated by semi-finished products, and there may be several red-wood old furniture that are recycled. The commodities in this market are basically all from Vietnam. Since the custom of the Vietnamese is the first year of the 23rd month, it is considered that the year has passed. At this time, Vietnam has no new goods to enter, and many shops are deserted. There were also some diligent Vietnamese businessmen who opened a stall, put a brazier in the doorway of the storefront, burned Vietnam's dark banknotes, and placed a large plate of red, green, and green fruits, implying that the business was booming.

Wu Xingqiang's furniture store and semi-finished product market are separated by a road. The door face is facing the road. The three-story exhibition hall is quite eye-catching. The advertising of the light box furniture with his photos is laid out along the street lights on both sides of the store. This shows that he is here. The position - Wu Xingqiang is the only businessman who can open a finished furniture store in PuZhai. Pingxiang's furniture market is divided into two major segments. Pu Zhai is mainly based on semi-finished and old furniture. It is located in Nanshan Redwood Market in Pingxiang City. All sold are finished furniture after processing. Semi-finished products are not allowed outside Puzhai. Sales.

Pingxiang's mahogany market, foreigners accounted for the vast majority. Wu Xingqiang was from Putian, Fujian, and arrived here in 1995. "I didn't know what I could do when I first arrived here. I sat on the side of the road every day and observed how many people come and go, and took what kind of goods. I took a piece of paper in my hand to draw a positive character on it. Two hundred people later discovered that there are just a few people walking around every day, and the locals call them 'dog fights', that is, porters. All of them are Chinese daily necessities, flashlights, poker, batteries and toys."

Wu Xingqiang was dark and told reporters that he was "not afraid of fear." Before coming to Puzhe, he experienced the ups and downs of being sued by banks from bankruptcy to bankruptcy. In 1980, soon after the reform and opening up, Wu Xingqiang was 14 years old. “Typhoon at that time, Taiwan’s fishing boats stopped at the side of the island to avoid a typhoon. At that time they could not get ashore. We took roosters, hens, and eggs to exchange with them, put things in baskets, hang them up, and They exchanged their watches for sale.” More transactions, Wu Xingqiang began to take money and Taiwan fishing boat transactions, “later developed to the high seas to intercept the goods, buy it back and get Fuzhou to sell. At that time it was popular audio tape, bought back with a tape recorder to copy After they took out and sold them, Zhang Di, Teresa Teng, and Long Pingpiao were all very well sold."

In that era, dare to dare to do, Wu Xingqiang grew bigger and bigger. “Doing a lot of business, earning money and doing it. Engaging in decoration, opening song and dance halls, acting for Singapore’s imported food, and contracting forests, cutting down trees, and changing fruit trees. The results are too much to do, do not know how to manage, spend money In the end, if you don’t have any money, you don’t know it. The debt that owed more than 1 million yuan is still not enough. As a result, the family could not stay.”

Wu Xingqiang fled with his wife and children and initially chose to go to Vietnam. “I was at the time to find a professor at Nankai University. I asked him, like me, what can I do if there is no way to go? He told me to go to Vietnam!” The professor explained to Wu Xingqiang, in such a region. The political and economic status are relatively special, and local laws and policies are also not perfect. “I have experienced people from underdeveloped legal systems during the era of reform and opening up. Professors told me that people like me have room for development in that kind of place. I have experience.” Wu Xingqiang said.

In 1995, Wu Xingqiang sought refuge in his hometown in Vietnam. He not only did not seek a way out, and all his family was defrauded. Dejected he came back from Vietnam, passing Puzhai. “I thought at the time that Vietnam could not stay and that the border could be. At that time, it was easy to stop and never go back if you were hungry.”

In the beginning, it was purchased from the Mainland and sold to Vietnamese. "The beginning is to sell toys, but how can we sell them? We later found out that other people's bargains were cheaper than my purchase price. Later I went to Fujian from my hometown badminton auction, and badminton was their national ball. Well, just after a month of business, the merchants asked to visit the Fujian factory. After the visit, they went directly to do business with the other side.” After several successful attempts, Wu Xingqiang began selling Vietnamese goods. “At the time, the border region was wearing a round green hat of Vietnamese people. They purchased 11 pieces and sold 25 pieces. At that time, people began to travel across the border. Every day they sell ten tops and eight tops, they can earn more than 100 pieces a day. At that time, I discovered that selling Vietnamese goods can make money!"

With a little money, Wu Xingqiang began selling Vietnamese crafts. "When I was a child, I learned woodwork at home. I knew that wood is the harder the better. The heavier it is, the better. I thought Viet Nam's mahogany was very hard and heavy. I thought it was a good thing, but I didn't realize it at the time."

This keen businessman said that he was always watching the market. He recalled: “Since 1997 and 1998, some Vietnamese overseas Chinese took semi-finished products to sell in Puzhai, purchased them from Vietnam, and assembled themselves in Puzhai. There are still some Vietnamese people who do business. Behind them as bosses, overseas Chinese are hired to sell here. Each piece of furniture is well regulated and the selling price cannot be lower. Some overseas Chinese raise their prices to sell and earn their own money."

“Look at other people doing business, I thought, this wood is so good, it will be able to do for a long time. But to enter this line must have the cost, so I really started to do furniture, it is already 2003, I am lucky, just touch when you enter At the price increase, the first bed I sold made thousands of pieces all at once.” Wu Xingqiang has a deep memory. “I’ll make a deposit if I make money. I’ll buy them if the Vietnamese send them. Slowly, it began to rise rapidly, and sometimes the goods were not sold, but the result was even more profitable. The price has been rising, and the price of 10,000 yuan has entered the market, and it can sell more than 100,000 yuan when it is sold."

Wood prices soaring

In Pingxiang, today's well-motivated businessmen are talking about the downturn in the market caused by the 2008 financial crisis. Especially in the Nanshan mahogany furniture market, there are hundreds or even thousands of square meters of exhibition halls at every store, and the total price of furniture placed inside is also in the millions to tens of millions of yuan. “It is well-funded and has a steady source of tourists.” Xu Changwu, an overseas Chinese in Vietnam, used his tea set and laid Kung Fu tea leisurely. He told the reporter that “the business was a bit worse, but by 2009, the market was recovering quickly.” At the end of 2009, the price of Huanghua pear doubled from the beginning of the year."

The Nanshan market advertises mahogany furniture boutiques. Businessmen here are from across the country and have a keen sense of smell. Most of them have completed the initial accumulation of capital before mahogany furniture boomed. Pingxiang Hongmu Chamber of Commerce president Wang Baotian took tens of thousands of dollars in 2000 to Pingxiang from his hometown in Zhejiang. “At that time, the border was very loosely controlled and we could go over the Vietnam side with an ID card. Tariffs were very low in 2000. Each batch of goods would cost as little as 3,000 pieces. It was quite cheap. By 2003, tariff standards were established. At that time, taxes should be collected at a rate of 2,000 to 3,000 yuan per ton.” Wang Baotian recalled to this reporter that when he first entered the market, thousands of dollars would be able to order a set of furniture locally in Vietnam. “More than 1,000 yuan Can do a set of three sets of palace chairs, but the highest but also more than 3,000 yuan." Compared with today, the price of mahogany at that time was as low as ridiculous. At that time, the prices of huanghuali and red rosewood were similar, and they were around several thousand yuan per ton. Wang Baotian’s business is also based on the idea of ​​Yiwu Small Department Store. “Fight for funds and come back soon and continue to invest in.”

Redwood is a collective name for wood, including rosewood, pear, red rosewood, rosewood and other major tree species. In the market today, the newly-created rosewood furniture is almost extinct, and the price of yellow pears has soared like a dark horse in a five-year period. Ten years ago, Huang Huali and red rosewood prices were similar and sometimes even cheaper. In accordance with the laws of the market, red rosewood grows at a price of 10% to 20% each year. The price of yellow pears is like a dogged cloud, soaring. Merchant Liu Song recalled the fingers of the journalist: “The price of Huanghua pear doubled in 2006 and doubled or tripled again in 2007. It was underestimated in 2008, and it doubled again in 2009.” The prices of pears vary greatly according to the size of the finished timber. Xu Changxuan told the reporter: “There are anecdotes on the market with some materials, some sold for 50,000 yuan, some sold for 150,000 yuan, 200,000 yuan. 20 centimeters of materials sold 10,000 yuan, 25 centimeters of material is impossible It is very probable to sell 12,000 yuan and sell 230,000 yuan. 40 centimeters of material is no longer sold, and the price can be as high as 300,000 yuan." Among the yellow pear species, the most famous is the one produced. Hainan's Hainan pear, but has been difficult to find in the market. The best quality is now Vietnam's pear, but even in Vietnam's domestic market, Vietnam's pear has been difficult to see.

The scarcity of wood has allowed Huanghuali Furniture to claim its own “astronomical” capital. In Xu Chang’e’s shop, a set of 17 sets of Da Baoding made from yellow pears is priced at 120 million yuan. Choosing woods with similar patterns and colors, the process of workers carving and carving flowers took more than two years. Together with the rising price of Huanghua pears, this Da Bao Ding became the treasure of the township store.

In the mahogany furniture market, the difference in price is due to differences in material selection. What kind of huanghuali is of good quality? Xu Changxuan said: First, the bigger the better, and the longer the longer the wood grows, the more those species that have been accumulated for centuries in the old forests of the mountains can be scarcely regenerated. “Some people say that they want to see colors. Some people say that black is better. Some people say that they have a little yellow and others say that they have good faces. My point is that if you do something, the overall color is good and that’s good. The whole set of furniture looks uniform in color, uniform in color, and consistent in pattern."

When the market first formed, most businessmen bought back semi-finished products from the Vietnamese, shipped them to Puzhai, and assembled direct sales. After the formation of Nanshan Market, some powerful shopkeepers set up factories in Pingxiang to dry, polish, carve, paint, and finish the bought-back semi-finished products. In Vietnam, the cost of labor is low, and the wages of workers are only 50 yuan per day. Chinese workers have at least 150 yuan, and many have 300 yuan per day, not counting overtime pay. If you open a factory in Vietnam to make finished products, transportation is a big problem. The semi-finished products can be opened and shipped, but the finished products take up a lot of space. Balancing the costs of labor and transportation, most businessmen buy semi-finished products in Vietnam and ship them back to China for fine processing. In the domestic mahogany market, it is generally believed that the Vietnamese craft is not good. Therefore, some merchants who demand more refined mahogany furniture began to hire domestic masters to go to factories in Vietnam for production guidance. Some of them simply pulled the wood back to China and asked Zhejiang, Fujian, Good master craftsmen such as Sichuan are meticulously crafted. Wu Xingqiang said that he would send good Vietnamese timber back to the hometown of Putian, Fujian. He chose relatively cheap shipping, first to Hong Kong, and then to Putian. Although it took half a month each time, the transportation cost was low. a lot of. Anhui businessman Ma Yan said: “Before it was the master who was the boss, they are all bosses and masters. The material is made into furniture, according to the specific conditions of the wood material, open into what shape, the line is good, this must see the master The craftsmanship, good master can make the best use of it, and it is also appropriate to do it.In the domestic material, the price is twice as high as the price of the Vietnamese goods.Good master makes more than 10,000 pieces a month is normal. ”

Vietnam Tongji: Redwood Home Workshop

In the late 1970s, when Xu Weixi returned to China during the Chinese expulsion in Vietnam, he spoke of Vietnamese business associates: “They will have problems with the delivery time, quality, and price. They clearly talk about the price, and when it comes to delivery, It will become awkward, or fool you with something bad. Everyone in this market has encountered this kind of situation. But the market is like that. We can only accept it. You do not.

From the border of Pingxiang friendship, the 16 Ford vehicles that are operated by Vietnamese are the most popular ways. In addition to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Tongji Village in Bac Ninh Province has also become a major passenger flow direction. The production of mahogany furniture is concentrated around the village of Tongji. Chinese merchants go to Vietnam to see goods and purchase goods. Although Vietnamese drivers neither speak Chinese nor English, as long as they say "Tongji," he immediately understands where you are pointing.

The Tongji Village in the mouth of a Chinese businessman has long been a vague and collective name. Du Yun, the young man who came here to help the inspection of the boss, told this reporter that seven or eight villages in Qishan City are doing mahogany. Each village has its own major varieties. Fuxi Village and Tongji Village are good at Ruyi Sofa and Dabaoding. Jinbang Village mainly produces sets of chairs, as well as several villages that are not named, and are directly referred to as crafts villages, imperial chair villages, and even big bed villages by Chinese businessmen. Experienced Chinese people come here to buy goods and will directly Go slowly to the village to see the goods.

Du Yun has been in Vietnam for more than a year. In early 2009, he was sent by the boss to Tongji Village to explore the road. “The first time a colleague took me, he took me to see a few goods, but I couldn’t remember the language, but I couldn’t remember the road.” The first time he arrived, but Du Yun was not at all surprised. "A month later, I basically learned Vietnamese. All the winding roads in these villages are also remembered." Du Yun said that for the first time he had to do business with the Vietnamese and he was deceived. One of the goods looked good. After the order was booked, it was not the original goods that had been sent in a few months. As a result, his boss had lost more than 100,000 yuan. "It's normal to encounter such things five or six times a year. Now that I have old customers, the relationship is better and I basically won't lie to me. At the beginning, I have to sign the wood. If the freight comes back I haven't left it. Marks, I have to let him return. Sometimes I check the goods here, to watch them packaged before they go, so that they can avoid being deceived."

The first month of Vietnam is a time of enjoyment. Vietnamese people have the custom of marrying in the first month. The red and blue plastic sheets form a hall outside the courtyard, and people hanging pink curtains announce a happy event. A Vietnamese man who likes to play cards plays in the ancestral hall where he writes a Chinese character plaque. He plays on the mat and laughs and plays cards. No work is done in the first month. But those families of furniture-making workshops have been busy. Du Yun said that there is hardly any factory on this scale. Vietnamese people brushed several floors of their own homes into bright colors, carved beams, and prominently marked the house-covered years at the threshold. The open space on the first floor was used to process mahogany furniture and the machine creaked. , flying debris filled, powdered floor.

Du Yun took us to talk about business, of course, the home of the Vietnamese boss. When he entered the door, he fluently used Vietnamese and the boss to sing and said nothing. The two men used their hand to draw figures and began bargaining. On the way back, he told us that in addition to booking two sets of tables, he wanted to buy the mahogany furniture in his parlor's living room. But at a high price, the boss refused to sell. He quite proudly told the reporter that the table made by the Vietnamese was unique, and many Chinese did not know it. He discovered it when he looked at each family. “There are fifty to sixty tables near this place, but his family’s chair is particularly comfortable to sit on, and the backrest’s curvature and the person’s skeleton lines are appropriate, which is hard to do at home. And his family’s table legs are Opened outside, so that the requirements of large materials, virtually, 3 cm width becomes 6 cm, the price of the table leg is twice as expensive than others." Du Yun took out the calculator to calculate, " He had to pay 68 trillion Vietnamese dong a year ago and he has now risen to 75 trillion, which has risen by 7 trillion. But now the exchange rate is high. At the time, the exchange rate was 1:2950, ​​now it is 1:3320, but it can save more than 500 yuan. ."

The next day, Du Yun paid a deposit of 15 trillion to the Vietnamese boss. The boss took money and took out a few Vietnamese dong to Du Yun. "*** 300 blocks." Du Yun bounced in his hand and threw the money into the wallet. This was the rebate of the boss to Du Yun. "We are running outside every day. It's normal to get such a small amount of money." In addition to orders, Du Yun's visit to Vietnam was also aimed at helping one of Jiangsu's bosses to open factories and select timber. “Because I spent a lot of time here, I was very familiar with many people. At that time, a Vietnamese wanted to find someone to top the factory. I first notified the Boss, or else there was such a good thing.” Processing plant has more than 200 square meters, there are basic materials and carving equipment, buy it down to spend more than 100,000 yuan***. Du Yun also helped Bangladesh's boss to come to China's master chef Longge. He said: “I know a Chinese boss who is here to open a factory, is a 'rich second generation', eats, drinks, and does not do business every day. There was no future with him, and I dug him over. Of course, Du Yun would get a huge amount of intermediary fees because he helped bridge the bridge.

During the two days we spent in Vietnam, when the rain drizzled, the market for selling mahogany raw materials was deserted. “Vietnamese people are not as diligent as the Chinese. They never get up early and are greedy and black. They only open the market every day, and they must close the lunch break on time. The rainy days don’t expect them to come out to sell.” It’s easy for the rain to stop. Du Yun takes it. Meng Bo and Long Ge went to buy timber. The raw material market here is also becoming specialized. Red rosewood and rosewood are sold in different markets. Vietnam had banned the export of logs to foreign countries a few years ago and is now increasingly cautious about the deforestation of trees. Most of the timber sold in the market comes from countries such as Laos and Cambodia around Vietnam. As a primary market, Vietnam slowly began to evolve into a trading hub.

Meng Bo did business locally in Jiangsu. He used to come to Vietnam to buy semi-finished products. He did not like to buy in Puzhai, because the goods imported into Puzhai were already picked up by others. Now he thinks that the semi-finished products in Vietnam are still not able to meet his requirements. He said: “What I want is Chinese craftsmanship. We have the traditional squat structure. So we invite the Chinese masters to come and guide the Vietnamese workers' processing.” According to the Meng boss, Requirements, just the opening of the link, a set of furniture down more than a few thousand dollars in processing fees, and spend more time, but he believes that if the value of goods from Vietnam to Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, etc. It is absolutely no problem if the price turns two or three times. Meng’s boss has the conditions to make fine furniture, and of course the demand is high.

In addition to the processing plants, some Vietnamese people also started a logistics business. The big signs written in the Chinese and Vietnamese languages ​​read the logistics routes that were sent from Cixi to Puzhai and even throughout the country. There are more and more Chinese people coming to do business. Du Yun, a brainy, self-employed businessman has also started his own business. He boarded a 6-storey, 12-room small hotel and was only open to the Chinese. He said: "As far as security is concerned, Vietnamese are not accepted. Some bosses come to buy goods, and the amount of money they bring is relatively large. The amount of RMB 3-4 million is a regular thing. If there is a mistake, it loses its reputation. This year's business will Don't do it."

Outsider's Pu Zhai: They are still in the mountains

Located in the southern border of China, Pingxiang City borders Vietnam on the west and the south. The border line is 97 kilometers long. There are two types of ports in the two ports of the country: the Yiguanguan Port and the Pingxiang Port, and a national second-class port and five borders. Inter-market points are the most numerous and largest border port cities in Guangxi and the most convenient land route from China to Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

In 1992, after the State Council approved Pingxiang City as an open city along the border, Puzhai gradually developed into a famous Southeast Asian border trade city. This two-square-kilometer former mountain village now looks more like a market. In this market, the frontier people can freely access and trade freely, and the goods “have not entered the country and have not yet exited the country” and entered Vietnam from Puzhai. After the goods have been successfully traded, the goods are declared. The goods that are traded with Vietnam must also be declared in China before entering this market.

In the concept of the Pingxiang City Government, mahogany furniture only became known to Pingxiang and Puzhai. In fact, the largest local GDP contributor is 5 billion yuan of foreign import and export trade, accounting for 60% to 70% of the total GDP. . Compared with this, the contribution of mahogany is simply not worth mentioning. Only the “trigger the tertiary industry” is slightly helpful to the government. The local government has very few restrictions on the Hongmu market, where hot money continues to flow in. In addition to the increasing number of businessmen directly involved in the management of mahogany furniture, the owner of Zhejiang, which has withdrawn from the Shanxi coal mine, has also invested in Pingxiang to build an area of ​​more than 1,000 mu. The mahogany business building is a shop for growing mahogany merchants.

No matter what, Puzhai has formed a mahogany home with a tangible market. Traders from all over the country and Southeast Asian countries frequently trade here and look prosperous. This mahogany market belongs to all foreigners, but may not belong to Puzhe alone. With a strong business atmosphere in the PuZhai market, the houses of PuZhai villagers are hard to find. The Puzhai Village behind the small buildings on the hillside, there is not even a clear road to pass.

Puzhai Village initially had only 6 households, and so far it has only only 30 households. At the foot of the hill, they can see through the cracks in the front of the building. The low-lying areas were originally their farmland, and people in the Puzhai village planted cash crops such as soybeans. After harvesting each year, they returned to Pingxiang to exchange points for food and the government returned some food.

After the border trade was opened, the government requisitioned the village's land. Huang Xin, the villager, still remembers the scenes. “Vietnamese people came to buy beer and they could endure hardship. They picked up a pole and went back to the mountains. They took the good roads. The elementary school students learned to come and buy beer and sell it. Without strength, only 4 bottles can be back. If the road falls, the bottle will be lost if it is broken."

The transaction is more and more frequent and complicated. The Puzhai villagers are always watching. The men here do not like to go out to work. They plant a little tree in the mountains. They go to the foot of the mountain to help the loading and unloading of the goods and earn some pocket money. Huang Xin said that they can only unload the goods of the Chinese people. Every day, a large number of Vietnamese people come here to unload the goods. Vietnamese goods are only loaded and unloaded by the Vietnamese.