VietNamNet Bridge – Chinese dealers have been scouring different localities in Vietnam, from mountainous areas to lowland, from Quang Binh in the central region to Ha Giang province in the north, to buy buffalos.

It seems that Chinese dealers are trying to collect as many buffalos as possible. Not only going directly to different rural areas to buy buffalos themselves, they have also hired Vietnamese people to do that. Hundreds of Vietnamese “assistants” have been scouring every corner to look for the buffalos, as bigger as possible, to sell to Chinese.

Buffalo dealers met everywhere

Tu, a Vietnamese buffalo dealer in Do Luong district of the central province of Nghe An, said that in the past, when the market days finished, the pubs and restaurants near the market were all very crowded. The clients here were the merchants who made profit from the trade deals and decided to reward themselves with alcohol drinks.

However, the merchants nowadays do not spend time at the restaurants after the market days, because they are busy searching for buffalos to re-sell to Chinese merchants. Tu said Chinese merchants always place big orders, and they would collect all the buffalos Vietnamese dealers can find.

Local residents said that the Dai Son buffalo Market has never been so chaotic before. Dealers fight each other to scramble for buffalos.

“Even the tea seller, who knows nothing about buffalos, is now also seeking to purchase buffalos, because the job brings fat money,” Tu said.

“Even the old men, aged 70-80, have also been hired to look for buffalos. It is really chaotic,” Tu continued.

Tu said that a Mr Xit is the most famous Chinese buffalo buyer here, but then lowered his voice, saying that if Mr Xit one day stops collecting buffalos, a lot of Vietnamese dealers would suffer and may become moneyless.

“Did you see the two old men and some young boys at the entrance to the market? The men blocked the way of the young boys, bought the buffalos from them and would re-sell to Mr Xit,” Tu affirmed.

Pointing to the man sitting next to him, Tu said that this was a friend of his, who came here from Bac Giang province to seek to purchase buffalos. “However, he cannot compete with buffalo dealers here. Mr Xit always accepts to pay higher prices,” he explained.

At first, Hai, the friend of Tu, said that he was collecting buffalos to provide to animal slaughtering centers. However, he later admitted that he was collecting buffalos which he would carry to Mong Cai border gate in Quang Ninh province to sell to Chinese merchants.

“There is no more buffalo in Bac Giang province. Therefore, I have to go to Nghe An. However, it seems that I would not get nothing there,” Hai said.

Le Cong Tuan, a well-known buffalo dealer in Thanh Hoa province, said that hundreds of buffalos are collected by Vietnamese to resell to Chinese merchants every day in the western districts of Thanh Hoa province.

“Previously, there were one or two buffalo dealers only. Meanwhile, there are now up to 100 dealers,” he said. “Dealers come from every locality, from the north (Hanoi, Vinh Phuc), and from central region (Nghe An). You can meet buffalo dealers everywhere.”

Tuan called himself as a small merchant, saying that small merchants would not be able to compete with big merchants. “No small merchant would be able to contact Chinese merchants directly. We have to sell buffalos to big merchants, who would then re-sell to Chinese for profit. This is the law of the jungle,” he said.

Source: Nong nghiep VN