Chapter 10: Wholesale Markets in Beijing, Page 4

The Huaken Yuegezhuang Market, which covers 13,000 sq. m. at the site of a historical wholesale fair, encompasses a unique combination of four types of sales activity:

1.Trucker-Brokers (Wholesale):
In the open fields, trucker-brokers line up their trucks loaded with produce bought from farmers as far away as Sichuan province (about a 3-day drive). Market fees and taxes are based on the size of their truck and type of produce. A fully loaded 5-ton truck carrying carrots is charged RMB 3,000 (US$ 360).

Brokers sell by the sack directly from their trucks to local dealers, who buy for shops and restaurants, or to resellers, who sell at the "free markets" in downtown Beijing. They stay at the market for several days until most of their load is sold, sleeping in their truck at night.

Typical trucker-broker.

2. Semi-Wholesale (Local Agents)
Odds and ends that aren't sold at the end of a 2-3 day stay at the market are handed over to a "local agent", whose shop consists of blankets spread on the ground in an adjacent section of the market. The trucker then heads back to the countryside to buy another load of produce, a round-trip trip which could take 4-5 days, and the local agent stays with the remaining produce to sell it to small buyers. These local agents, typically with their families (including small children), "live" with the produce day in and day out until it's sold.

Since the trucker-broker already paid the market fees, these local agents pay no additional fees.

Local sales agent.