Street-Stall Economy Is Hot—Seizing the Chance Matters, and Our Company Can Help
On May 28, after the closing of the Third Session of the 13th National People's Congress, Premier Li Keqiang, responding to reporters, praised cities that had been first to ease rules on the "street-stall economy." Under the conditions of ensuring safety, not blocking tactile paving or fire lanes, not harming the cityscape, not creating noise nuisance, and not polluting the environment, permit conditions for street occupancy can be appropriately relaxed.
On May 28, after the closing of the Third Session of the 13th National People's Congress, Premier Li Keqiang, responding to reporters, praised cities that had been first to ease rules on the "street-stall economy." The Central Civilization Office also made clear that this year's national civilized-city assessment indicators would not count street occupancy, road markets, or mobile vendors as scoring items. Advancing healthy development of the street-stall economy fits normalized pandemic-control needs, meets residents' diverse demand, and adds jobs—it is part of delivering the "six stabilities" and the "six guarantees." Solving the urban-governance exam of letting the street-stall economy coexist with everyday life means focusing on optimizing "streamline, regulate, and serve," bringing new vitality to livelihoods, employment, household consumption, and economic recovery, and giving cities more of the everyday bustle that comforts people most.
I. [Opening the Street-Stall Economy: Benefits Outweigh Drawbacks]
Against this year's pandemic shock to the domestic and global economy, the street-stall economy has been opened up. The background and broader environment we face are key to understanding what that signal means—its core aim is to revitalize the economy and help deliver the "six guarantees" and "six stabilities." The Two Sessions government work report proposed relatively proactive fiscal and monetary policy to support the economy, with protection as the overall priority while still managing fiscal pressure. By comparison, opening the street-stall economy lets the market work spontaneously: it does not require much fiscal spending, yet can deliver strong results, and it helps employment that some policies cannot reach. This year's government work report called for stabilizing jobs, boosting incomes, and protecting livelihoods to raise household willingness and ability to consume, and for supporting recovery in catering, malls, culture, tourism, domestic services, and other lifestyle services. Opening the street-stall economy has clearly given ordinary people a ray of hope: it can rehabilitate stallholders who lost jobs, let residents find affordable quality goods, and strongly revive urban everyday life.
1. More jobs and entrepreneurship, a livelier economy, and income for ordinary people
Self-employment has become an important channel for absorbing jobs. Under pandemic shock it is especially important to keep self-employment going, protect existing jobs from further hits, and absorb new employment as much as possible. In recent years the share of tertiary-sector employment in China has kept rising, reaching 47.4% in 2019. Looking at urban and rural employment, the share of individual operators has also climbed: individual operators as a share of urban employment rose from 13% in 2010 to 26% in 2019, and rural individual operators as a share of all employment rose from 6% in 2010 to 18%. Self-employment's contribution to jobs is already very high—its strengths must be used. In this year's special context, laid-off workers, the unemployed, and rural migrants seeking work in cities also matter; how to secure jobs for these groups is critical.
At the press conference the Premier shared a figure: about 83,333,333 people in China have monthly income below $139—showing how serious the issue is. The street-stall economy has a low barrier: operating costs are small. For groups that struggle to find work, stall costs are low—no need to buy fixed assets or lease a shop; a small amount of capital can keep operations running and effectively push employment for these groups. As the Premier said at the post–Two Sessions press conference, one western city set up 5,000 mobile-vendor stalls under local rules, and overnight 13,889 people found work. A night-market survey by Xiake Island found that vulnerable groups were only about one-third of the sample; many vendors preferred to call themselves "business people," and some already earned above the city average. So the street-stall economy also contributes meaningfully to income for related groups. Beyond jobs, it can spur entrepreneurship: with little cost, a stall is a natural place to test a business and gather market information.
2. Lower costs and lower product prices
Shopfront costs—rent, utilities, property fees, taxes, and more—are ultimately spread into product prices and paid by consumers. The street-stall economy's low-cost nature also flows through to lower prices, so consumers enjoy affordable goods. That matters. Why? Do not forget that stimulating consumption this year is hard: slower growth is inevitable, and household income expectations will fall, so cutting consumption costs also helps pull demand.
3. Convenience for residents
Even with a strong internet economy, buying small affordable goods or snacks is not always convenient—orders often miss the free-delivery threshold, and shipping can cost more than the item. Some older people are also less comfortable shopping online. So, without disrupting normal leisure and daily life, the street-stall economy can make living more convenient.
4. Richer cultural and leisure life
In hard economic times, enriching people's cultural life matters greatly—and it is also a way to support social stability. The street-stall economy blends shopping and leisure and builds everyday urban bustle. Local stall economies also carry local character—Tianjin sugar figurines, Beijing antiques, and more—showing regional customs and giving tourism a lift. Overseas, street-stall economies are common too: New York, London, Paris, and other cities have vendors, bazaars, night markets, weekend markets, flea markets, yard sales, and other forms that give individual operators room for free economic activity.
Chengdu, Shaanxi, Xuchang in Henan, Hangzhou, and other places have already opened up stall sites, but issues such as hygiene, quality, traffic, and operating order still need fixing. Governments should avoid lazy governance rather than ban everything with a one-size-fits-all approach. Overseas practice is useful: France sets clear rules for flea markets—fixed times and places, rotating schedules, stalls only where traffic is not blocked and pollution is low, and night-market zones where night markets fit. South Korea has turned stalls into "street culture," beautifying booths and decorating varied stalls as "tourist carriages," turning scattered vendors into a distinctive cultural scene. Vendor conduct is managed through an association model: all stall operators must join a "small-stall owners association" to gain operating status and must follow industry rules. In Hong Kong, small traders are managed through legal means.
The street-stall economy may put some pressure on shopfront businesses or online shopping, but we see the impact as limited. Cheap prices and convenience create competitive pressure on some shopfront operators and internet firms, yet observed product categories are more complementary than substitutive, so the overall hit should be modest—benefits outweigh drawbacks.
II. [The "Stay-at-Home Economy" Keeps Improving; Encouraging Going Out Stimulates Recovery]
As domestic pandemic control gradually steps down, consumption rebound will release further: as Beijing, Shanghai, and other major areas move from level-one to level-two control, or from level two to level three, travel frequency will rise further; and as "Red May" consumption campaigns unfold, retail sales of consumer goods will climb further.
From Two Sessions policy direction, domestic demand's role in underpinning the economy and structural transition has been highlighted. On the production side, restorative improvement is largely done and further rises face bottlenecks, but new-infrastructure-related sectors such as 5G and power electronics remain worth watching. On the consumption side, Premier Li Keqiang specifically noted the street-stall economy's positive role in boosting jobs: low-end consumer goods such as beer and condiments will get a direct lift, while stronger employment will also support continued profit recovery in catering and tourism, commerce and retail, agriculture, and food and beverage.
Clearly, the street-stall economy has become a new driver of recovery. It may look modest, yet like capillaries it runs through streets and alleys and touches economic activity large and small. For lower-income groups it offers a high value-for-money option beyond online shopping and supermarkets—raising employment on one side and driving consumption on the other. Historically, policy was relatively supportive of the street-stall economy mainly around 2007 and 2017.
Restoring street stalls has been a call from many at the grassroots. Stalls and urban management have long been seen as adversaries—but urban managers manage the city, and stall vendors are the managed. If everything is banned with a blunt cut, what is urban management for? Its role is to manage mobile vendors better—not to chase every stall like a cat after mice.
Mention stalls and night markets come to mind: bright lights, stalls packed with goods, food and fun—BBQ, hotpot skewers, milk tea, smoothies, stinky tofu, green rice balls… every kind of snack. That also brings a turnaround for catering hit hard by the pandemic.
Night-market culture shows a city's everyday bustle best. Heavy crackdowns on stall economies and night shops in some places left streets quiet and drained of life. Stalls and night markets are good—but orderly management matters. Years of enforcement aimed at cleaner, more civilized cities. If restoration is encouraged without sound planning, the old "dirty, disorderly, and poor" pattern returns, and restoration loses its point.
So while the street-stall economy can maximize urban bustle, successfully opening night markets takes more effort. Street vending is an ancient form of trade, but in the internet age it must keep pace, rebrand itself, and shed the dirty-and-disorderly stereotype so the public will accept and support it.
Open space: policy encourages localities to build a stage for the "night economy." "Set stalls well, run stalls well, manage stalls well" should be a key local response—normalized management so the street-stall economy is a standing choice under normal conditions, not only a temporary pandemic stopgap. Creative stalls such as intangible-heritage markets, cultural-creative bazaars, and cultural experiences—cultural and leisure stalls—should become important options for parks, plazas, and scenic spots to add nodes, draw visitors, enrich content, and lift the mood.
III. [Container Night Markets Dig Gold from the "Night Economy"]
Our company has in recent years focused on night markets and the street-stall economy. As the street-stall boom heats up, how should city managers and investors seize the chance, respond quickly to policy, and achieve orderly management? Our company has something to say:
Investment always mixes risk and return—especially in hard times, low-risk investment is often investors' first choice. From Downtown Container Park in the United States to Common Ground in South Korea, Quo Container Center in Argentina, Trump Cadde in Turkey, Re:START shopping plaza in New Zealand, Art Box Bangkok in Thailand… we see a rising, more flexible commercial form.
One container can become a pop-up shop; two can become a small restaurant; three can become a small house… N containers can build a striking commercial complex. Versus traditional malls, container commercial complexes have a distinctive personality and standout style that more and more young consumers favor. From a market strategy view, container shops fit young brands in location, rent, and brand positioning.
Market demand is pushing container commercial complexes forward—and container commercial streets have natural advantages.
1. Eco-friendly: Most containers used in container commercial streets are retired second-hand units. After completing ocean voyages they sat stacked in yards, overlooked, until we found their value and, through reprocessing and conversion, gave them new life. Heavy steel structure has strong advantages in stability and risk resistance, so they are converted into container shops, container guesthouses and hotels, container sales centers, container commercial streets, and more. Conversion produces little construction waste, so it is highly eco-friendly.
2. Movable: Container shops can move and relocate anytime—place them where rent works, free from forced renovations and force majeure. In recent years governments have pushed the night economy, and during the Two Sessions they clearly signaled room for the "street-stall economy" and "outdoor economy," so the advantages of containers for night markets stand out.
3. Flexible look, fashionable form: The unique industrial look of containers can be tough or endlessly artistic—trendy, EDM style, graffiti, fashion, luxury, or down-to-earth. Delivered projects win investors and visitors; viral check-in photos never stop.
4. Unified planning and management: Stalls and night markets have long been misunderstood as "messy" and "poor." Moving the "street-stall economy" and "night-market economy" into uniformly designed containers not only creates a strong overall look and consistent style, but also strengthens management: open containers and add outdoor tables and chairs when open; close containers and clear outdoor seating when closed—and the street returns to normal in an instant.
5. Cost-saving with real economic returns: Ordinary shopfronts often cost millions—large investment, high risk. Container shops start from only $20,833 each, about one-fifth the cost of an ordinary shop. Ordinary shops also have large shared areas, so usable space is often smaller. Container shops offer outdoor spillover and upper-floor area: a 15 m2 shop can reach about 45 m2 of practical use.
Commerce is inheritance plus innovation—helping traditional culture find new life, letting people experience old flavors with a new approach. Fold the container into the "street-stall economy" and "night-market economy," add more tech-enabled scenes, and through old-city stages, street flavor, industrial buildings, heritage shop signs, and more, create fresh "container districts," "container night markets," "container stalls," and "container bazaars"—bringing back warm, familiar memories.
At our company, we sincerely offer domestic and international markets preferential pricing, service, and full container solutions. To discuss your needs, call us at 17721310336 or email marketing@ourcompany.com for more information.
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