🇨🇳🇮🇩 Chinese Suppliers Bypass SEA Traders

Ethnic Chinese traders in Indonesia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia say factories in China are increasingly selling directly to their customers, often at prices below what intermediaries are charged. The pressure is visible on Indonesian e-commerce platforms, where Chinese companies are listing products directly and eroding margins for local distributors in sectors including home goods and pet supplies.

The shift affects a long-established commercial layer linking Chinese manufacturers with Southeast Asian retail markets, including many ethnic Chinese family-run trading businesses. It reflects the growing reach of cross-border e-commerce and a structural move by mainland suppliers to capture downstream market access rather than rely on regional intermediaries.

The immediate effect is margin compression for small and medium traders from Indonesia to the Philippines. If sustained, the trend could further weaken the traditional brokerage role of diaspora-linked trading networks in regional commerce.

#China #Indonesia #Philippines

@asianomics