Parallel trading and its implications for policing the border

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to gain an “insider” understanding of contemporary methods and operations in parallel trading in the North District.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing from in-depth interviews and field observations, we explore how this demand has led to two major consequences.

Findings

First, contemporary parallel trading has resulted in the rise of an organized system with coordinated roles and a range of workers moving in concert colloquially understood as the ant-moving-home (“螞蟻搬家” or “maangai bungaa”) approach. Second, the demand for parallel goods has led to alterations in the border landscape disturbances to daily order, shortages of daily goods and rising prices which, in turn, have led to organized protests around political identity and new challenges for policing the border.

Research limitations/implications

Our objective is to gain an “insider” understanding of contemporary methods and operations in parallel trading in the North District. A second limitation is the problem of generalization. Given the relatively small number of interviews and limited time for field observations, this study cannot provide a generalized account of the operation of the grey economy in the North District.

Originality/value

This article has drawn from several data sources to construct a holistic understanding of parallel trading and the associated public disorder in the North District. While parallel trading exists in many other countries, the situation in Hong Kong is somewhat distinct, in part, because the border trading site involves “one country but two systems” and accordingly is associated with other problems in relation to public security, social disturbance and identity conflict. These newly emerged issues on policing, not covered in this study, are important to future research.

Citation

Wan, T.Y.T., Chiew, T.H.T., Cheung, T.P.H., Wong, F.K.Y., Tsoi, C. and Laidler, K.J. (2016), "Parallel trading and its implications for policing the border", Social Transformations in Chinese Societies, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 77-96. https://doi.org/10.1108/STICS-05-2016-004