This article in the Financial Times tells how cheap Chinese exports are threatening traditional Palestinian manufacturing. It explains how Chinese-made keffiyahs, traditional Palestinian headscarves, are selling for half the price of the locally manufactured version. The secretary of Hebron’s chamber of commerce, and a shoe manufacturer, worries that the local shoe industry employs just 5,000 workers versus 15,000 a decade ago.
The article rightly points out that Hebron traders have opened up more 20 offices in manufacturing centre’s in China’s east coast.
I’ve met some of these traders in China. Many of them aren’t just selling to Palestine, but also the region’s larger markets. I recall one trader, Mohammed Nasser, was selling leather belts to Saudi Arabia. He employed two Chinese staff and communicated in basic Chinese. His plan was to earn enough money to return home and marry a Palestinian girl. Unemployment rates are soaring in Palestine. So, China was his only hope.
Finally, I have to mention Hamas Shawer, the owner of a Palestinian lingerie factory. His description of Chinese imports as “like a volcano – burning everything in its way” is one of the more interesting I’ve heard in years.
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[...] manufacturing countries such as Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. One Palestinian lingerie maker was recently reported as saying, “Chinese exporters are like a volcano consuming everything in its [...]