From our archives

March 5, 1984

Individual businesses mushroom in Shanghai

The number of small private business have mushroomed in Shanghai since 1980. There are now more than 41,000 persons engaged in private business, compared with about 8,000 in 1978.

These private businessmen are mostly those who cannot find jobs in State or collectively owned enterprises, including about 5,000 youths.

The 41,000 private businessmen are engaged in commerce, catering, repairing, transport, handicraft, and social services.

Tibetan holiday market offers wealth of goods

As Tibetans last week prepared for their traditional New Year holiday, more than 1.7 million Yuan of goods were sold in six days at a trade fair here, 650,000 Yuan more than at last year's event.

Cold storage facilities supplied the city market with abundant quantity of ribbonfish, cuttlefish, beef, mutton, pork, chickens and ducks.

The rapid economic development of Tibet helped cut the price of vegetables and a number of goods used by Tibetan people by as much as 50 percent. These goods include woolen cushions, seat and bed covers, clothing, shoes and caps, a kind of tweed favored locally, traditional women's aprons, and furniture.

(China Daily 03/12/2009 page10)