ZAMBIA-CHINESE Association vice-president Wang Xin has proposed that a law should be introduced in Zambia to prohibit Chinese from selling items on retail.
Mr Wang said Chinese must only be allowed to sell their items on wholesale basis so that the Zambians could be buying in bulk for resale to create balance and peace.
He was speaking at a media briefing in Kitwe yesterday in the light of the skirmishes which occurred at the weekend when a Chinese shop-owner accidentally shot and wounded his female shop assistant in Chimwemwe Township.
Mr Wang said once the Chinese were restricted to wholesale trading, there would be a balance between the two countries in terms of business while conflicts would be reduced.
At the same briefing, Kitwe District Commissioner Binwell Mpundu said Zambians were “irritated” because the Chinese had taken up most business ventures.
Mr Mpundu called on the Chinese to invest in bigger business activities that most Zambians could not afford so that there was a balance.
He said Zambians were eager to share the market as long as the practice was fair and hence the Chinese must take up bigger businesses that an ordinary Zambian could not manage to run.
Mr Mpundu said Zambia and China had enjoyed good relationships for many years which must be maintained.
He said if the Chinese want to continue doing business, they need to demonstrate that they were able to take care of Zambians, who they had employed because the government wanted to see transfer of skills.
He said the relationship between the two countries needed to be nurtured because of the mutual benefits.
He noted that many shooting incidences involving Chinese happened when there was no violence, an indication that guns were not being used for protection.
Chinese should be restricted to engineering and technical jobs where there’s no Zambian expertise. Wholesale and retail trading should be left for Zambians.
Wholesale should be left to Zambians. What expertise is required for that? Nothing
I completely concur with you @Enka!
Wholesale or shopkeeping are not the kind of skill-transfer that Zambia needs. Technical, Engineering, Research/Medicine, and such fields/skills is where the Chinese should be restricted.
Who gives these Chinese visas to come open shops? We need to protect our borders. Problem is we have a disfunctional govt. These Chinese failed to operate in Botswana bcoz they have a functional govt. They all ran to Zambia.
– Somalis come in, next they are truck drivers
– Lebanese come in nxt u see them trading in kamwala
– Tanzanians come in, nxt they are trading at chisokone & comesa.
Can a Zambian be allowed to do these things in Somalia, TZ, China or Lebanon?
Imagine it has to take a Chinese to propose laws for you. What a country.
We proposed same during Sata, but Ba Sata said Zambia don’t want to discriminate which RACE or tribe should sale bulls and which race should sell ofals only.
So Chinese please don’t put us in trouble, we can’t make such a national law.
Wait a minute, with these new PF leaders they expedite such wholesale proposal.
There is need for complete overhaul of this incompetent leadership in Zambia. The Chinese have seen that these Zambian leaders don’t know what they’re doing and that’s why there’s this chaos happening in the country. It takes a Chinese now to suggest what to do. I don’t blame him. He has seen that there’s complete incompetence from ba kamushi aba. Secondly, why are all these Chinese in the country in the first place? Who qualifies to be a foreign investor in Zambia? How much money are they supposed to invest before they can be allowed to stay in the country? Please begin to round up all these Chinese who don’t qualify as serious investors and send them back to China. Allow only big investors with big money to stay in the country. Send them back! Such incompetence. You all…
(continued)… need to be fired—every last one of you ba kamushi !
CHINESE Association proposing what this incompetent empty tins should be doing in the first place…they know in China you can not sit in the streets with questions from police. I mean these are the same guys they wanted to put in the police by IG.
The incompetent empty tins are members of a tribal H-organisation led by CHILDISH itself.
Everyone wants to live.
Can’t be bad to have some Chinese in parliament, on PF ticket. We used to have Dipaks in parliament.
Poland they have a Zambian MP, don’t if he knows a shhit about that country.
This cannot be possible in a free market economy as you cannot put restrictions based on race, gender, colour etc.
Placing restrictions based on nationality is not discriminatory. A nation should first and foremost safeguard the interests of its citizens.
Razor…go to China and make that same claim and see where it gets you. In China you can’t be a Chinese citizen, even if you’re married to a Chinese. You’re not allowed to work, even if you’re married to a Chinese. Work visa laws in China are some of the world’s most stringent. And yet in Zambia the Chinese just pour in and begin to sell chickens and roasted maize on the side of the road. Why? Because we lack competent leadership in Zambia at this time. Every homogeneous country looks out for the interests of their own citizens first. China and Japan are classic examples. Zambia being a homogeneous society ought to do the same.
How about for every wholesale/trading business competent and qualified Zambians have to be present in roles where they can gain insight into how the business runs. Let the Zambians build relationships with the suppliers so that we can start running wholesale business ourselves. Even better is if we can start manufacturing these products ourselves. We are land linked and are connected to 8 countries we can trade with.
They should apply for trading licences period. We do not need unnecessary laws mushrooming everywhere. The can have shops, but employ 80% Zambians, and a percentage of that should be management.
no if its Zambians to sell whether on whole sale they will exploit us with prices and especially if they are made to go china and get the items…….eish…..even just getting on wholesale from Chinese shops look at there prices its 100 percent profits.
The Chinese should not be suggesting how we apply, change, think up, dream, or pull from thin air any of our laws of the land. They are visitors.
Nzelu …what do you expect them to do if the country’s leadership has no clue about anything? Just as much as I hate it, I do understand this Chinese guy’s motivation. What he suggested is something most countries do, and Zambia should have already put such laws in place. But the Zambian leadership is fast asleep. They only wake up when someone shakes them up so they can receive a bribe—and thereafter they go right back to sleep.
@ Nzelu
WAKE-UP, the Chinese are not “visitors”. They are here to STAY and to issue “directives” like comrade Xin has done.
Can i be allowed to be a hawker of Tujilijili ,Chibuku and used underwear in streets of China? These Chinese shouldn’t take us for fools, GRZ please slap restrictions on their trading
Indians dominated the retail business from time immemorial and nobody cried. Why the fuss over Chinese retailers?! Is it really indigenous Zambians who are pissed off with the upswing of Chinese businesses?
As for me, I find the price of goods in Chinese owned shops unbeatable and good for all consumers. Buzz off exploiters; leave the law abiding Chinese alone. Just deal with the criminal elements in the Chinese community. Don’t generalise.
umuntu mutwe! You mean we have even stopped thinking on our own! Really?
Guys,
Please face the facts, Zambians are inept at business. They are best suited in positions of servitude. This dates back to the Colonial era. It’s for this reason that you find:
Chinese
Indians
Somalians
Senegalese
Zimbabweans
Greeks, and
Lebanese
Running the most efficient businesses in Zambia
Comrade Xin,
Firstly, by suggesting enactment of new law, you are INTERFERING IN THE INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF THE HOST COUNTRY.
Secondly, instead of Zambia enacting new law, why YOUR COUNTRY does not enact law where Zambian Citizens are treated economically same way as your Citizens? Will your “Dear Leader” accept “horde” of African foreigners to invade every segment of local economy? Will you accept foreigners buying land owned by the People of China or actively promoting and encouraging corruption? Newer mind allowing foreigners (equivalent to yourself) to suggest what are you ranting.
In addition, will the People and the “Dear Leader” allow Zambian Citizens to carry and use fire arms against YOUR citizens or for that matter, wearing Chinese security services uniform?
The Chinese should only be allowed to engage in businesses where expertise is required not coming here to open up wholesale businesses. In China a Zambian cannot be allowed to do such businesses, the authorities there cannot even entertain such nonsense. We are the owners of this country and the therefore we lay down the rules which they must follow.
Thats how South Africa has done. Chinese are only allowed wholesale in ALL businesses, not in Zambia were there are in markets, in shops, etc
I was very impressed with one wholesaler in Kitwe. This guy’s shop is always overcrowded to the extent that people are accusing him of Satanism. But upon research I discovered that his success is due to a simple innovation. He repacks things like milk from cases of 24 to 6 packs. This way owners of small Tuntembas find it very affordable to buy as many various items as they. If a case costs 120 kwacha, the 6 pack will cost 30 kwacha therefore giving you chance to buy other items. We can beat the Chinese at their own game if we put our minds to it. Stopping them may not because they may use Zambians as fronts.
My people,You do not win by weakening the strong but you win by strengthening the weak.
Wang Kong should not suggest what is beneficial for Zambia. Leadership.should already have set down laws and bylaws of what a foreigner is entitled to in this country.
King Kong and his people have no value for Zambian lives let alone our interllect
By the way Wembley stadium is being sold to a foreign developer. Can Spaka add more on this.
How can you have a investor t come and open a shop and leave in townships it’s a scam
In China it would be impossible for a Zambian to start a business but here it’s very easy for a chinese national to start and operate a business. Why do the Chinese flock to other countries but won’t allow foreigners to do small businesses in their country?