VietNamNet Bridge – The flea market which Hanoians call “Cho Troi” is the “paradise of Chinese goods.”

Cho Troi has been existing together with Hanoians since the 1950s. In the memory of local residents, Cho Troi was the market of second-hand goods. Everything could be found here, from sewing needles to refrigerators.

However, nowadays, brand new products are also available at the market, from speaking-trumpets to machines and spare parts. And all of the products are sourced from China.

L, the owner of a kiosk specializing in trading DVD players, megaphones and music instruments, said most of her customers seek to buy Chinese products.

“You just have to spend one million dong to possess a good set of music players made in China. Believe me, Chinese goods are dirt cheap, but they are okay,” she said, advertising for Chinese products.

“We have everything customers need here,” she continued. It seemed that L did not lie. There were a lot of products with different designs, colors and brands available at the kiosk.

“They are not original products. These are counterfeit goods, though I would say to other customers that they are branded goods,” L acknowledged, explaining that Vietnamese consumers like branded goods.

She also said that it is quite easy to stick labels on the products to turn them into genuine products. “I can have any labels you want,” she said.

Here at the Cho Troi, there are not only sellers, but “manufacturers” as well. The “manufacturers” assemble megaphones themselves from the Chinese parts available at the market. Hoa, a worker, said that he has been assembling the products for the last 10 years, and his products have been selling very well. He said he can live well with the career, though it is really an easy job.

Not only audio products, but all other products here are made in China, from the small device like strew to car spare parts.

“Chinese counterfeit goods have been flooding the Cho Troi,” Hoa said, adding that the products have been selling like hot cakes because they are dirt cheap, just ½ or 1/3 of the prices of branded goods.

Quan, an engineer working for the Nghi Son thermopower plant in Thanh Hoa province, said Cho Troi is the biggest market of electrical equipments. However, there are only low quality Chinese products here.

Quan entered a shop at Cho Troi and asked for a product used for an electric plug, then ordered a big quantity. To everyone’s surprise, the owner of the shop said Quan would get the deliveries after 15 minutes.

After making some calls, 3000 products were brought to the shop. When Quan asked about the origin of the products, the seller said he would only show the sealed box of products with labels only when clients order 5000 products at once. He also declined to give information about the importer.

Other shop owners also showed products in nylon packs, while there was no thing which could prove the origin of the products, the manufacturers or importers.

“I am sure these are Chinese goods. No one knows anything about the products’ characteristics or manufacturers,” Quan concluded.

In the latest news, Hanoi authorities are considering eliminating the flea market, gathered on a street in the central area of the city, thus causing big worry to thousands of families here, who say they do not know what they have to work to earn their living.

Phuoc Ha