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Hoiryeong Market Price of Rice Wanes from 1000 to 800 North Korean Won

Tuesday, April 10th, 2007

Daily NK
Kwon Jeong Hyun
4/10/2007

At the end of March, the price of North Korean rice in Hoiryeong City’s jangmadang (market) fell to 820 won per 1kg, around 200 won lower than early January of this year. At a 100 won less value, the price of rice is in a falling state.

The result of Daily NK’s survey of three cities – Shineju, Hoiryeong, Kwaksan – in North Korea’s southern and northern regions at the end of March revealed that the declining price of rice will remain a reality through all regions of North Korea. In Shineju, North Korean rice costs 800 won per kg, 850 won for South-Korean rice, and 700 won for Chinese rice. The price of rice in Shineju is not much different than in January.

The price of corn, which is the staple among North Korea’s low-income, fluctuated narrowly from 340 won at the beginning of the year to 370 won at the end of March. Compared to the decline in the price of rice, the price of corn remaining at the current level can be said to reflect the demand for corn which has been transferred from the demand for rice on a small-scale.

As a whole, the stability of North Korea jangmadang’s price of rice indicates that food supply for North Korean citizens is relatively stable, compared to before. Since the North Korean authorities have not fulfilled the nationwide rations, a large majority of the citizens are purchasing their food at the jang.

In spite of North Korea entering the spring shortage season where the difficulty of obtaining food becomes more severe, the stability of the current price of rice is significant contrary evidence from the position upheld by world’s food organizations or domestic aid organizations of “100,000 tons of food deficit” in North Korea.

The value of the North Korean currency has been in a recession since March. In the Northern region, the currency declined from 3200 won per dollar early this year to 3050 won by the end of March. The Chinese yuan has also declined from 418 won to 360 won. North Korea’s inflation is falling back daily.

The price of North Korean pork at 2500 won per kg does not differ much from early this year. The price of flour, which is rare in North Korea, is 1000 won per kg; it always exceeds the price of rice. The price of North Korean sea foods is still astronomical. The bidding price for one frozen Pollack is 4000 won. That is enough to buy 5kg of rice.

A local source who conducted the price investigation of markets inside North Korea said, “The results of this investigation revealed that the price difference among the North Korean regions is very significant” and “besides medicinal or daily products, the price level in Hamkyungdo is higher than the price level in Pyongando.”

Posted in Agriculture, Economic reform, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Price liberalization | Comments Closed

Rice bought, sought at markets in N. Korea: source

Tuesday, April 10th, 2007

Yonhap
4/10/2007

North Korean authorities have scaled back their country’s food rationing system and allowed rice to be bought and sold at open markets in major cities, sources here said Tuesday.

In July 2002, the communist country reduced food rationing and introduced an economic reform program under which wages were raised and farmers’ markets were expanded so that people could buy food. But the policy has zigzagged on the purchase and sale of cereals and rice.

“Since last year, rumors have spread about the sale at state-run stores as the food rationing system did not function well. Currently, not only corn but also rice is being traded at the markets,” a government source said, asking to remain anonymous because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The source added that North Korean authorities permitted the sale of imported rice at state-run stores. “The authorities hope to clamp down on high rice prices at black markets by diversifying the sources of rice distribution,” the source said. On the North’s black market, the product costs about 20 times more than rice at state-run stores.

Posted in 2002 Economic reforms, Agriculture, Black markets, Economic reform, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Price liberalization, Public Distribiution System (PDS) | Comments Closed

Update: North Koreans eating huge rabbits

Thursday, April 5th, 2007

London Times (Hat tip DPRK Studies)
Kim jong Il ate my rabbits for his birthday
David Crossland
4/5/2007

Karl Szmolinsky sold the rabbits to Pyongyang so that they could be used to set up a breeding programme to boost meat production in the Hermit Kingdom.

The 68-year-old breeder had been due to travel to North Korea after Easter to provide advice on setting up a rabbit farm. A North Korean official rang him last week to say that the trip had been cancelled. Mr Szmolinsky said he suspected that his rabbits, which grow to the size of dogs and can weigh over 10kg (22lb), were eaten at a birthday banquet for Kim Jong Il, the North Korean leader, although he emphasised that he had no evidence of this.

Original story below…

(more…)

Posted in Agriculture | 1 Comment »

19 Dollars a Month Means Three Corn Meals a Day

Monday, April 2nd, 2007

Daily NK
Han Young Jin
4/2/2007

“100,000 won (approx. US$32.2) doesn’t cut it.” This is a sigh-ridden comment of a North Korean citizen, who states that even if he has 100,000 won, it is not much to spend.

The recent currency depreciation of the North Korean won has been exacerbating the North Korean citizens’ burdens of their costs of living.

Such a situation has been ongoing since the July 1st Economic Measure in 2002, but with the concentration of money in the privileged class, the grim realities of life of vulnerable persons have been becoming more difficult.

Hoiryeong citizen Park Hyun Sik (pseudonym), in a phone conversation with Daily NK on the 30th, stated that “a decent Chinese jumper costs 30,000 ~50,000 (approx. US$ 9.7~16) won for one, 3,000 won for 1kg of meat, and 2,700 won per a bottle of oil. After eagerly awaiting a month, I go to the market with 100,000 won (approx. US$ 32.2), but end up with nothing even though I did not buy much.”

Mr. Park, who conducts the wholesale business of relaying goods received from overseas Chinese emigrants to the provinces, receives a monthly income of 300,000 won. This puts him in a good class in North Korea. Mr. Park’s family, which consists of his wife and son, plans to secure food with this money.

Evidently, a family of four needs 50kg (50,000 won) of rice, which costs 1,000 won per kg, and 20 kg (7,000 won) of corn, which costs 350 won per kg, to survive. Additionally, the cost of buying a bottle of bean oil at 2,700 won as well as pepper powder, vinegar, garlic, onions and other vegetables is almost equal in value to the cost of buying rice.

On top of this, the family says they eat pork meat about once a month, which costs 3,000 won per kg. The rest of the money goes to the three family members’ clothing and cigarettes and drinks for Mr. Park, all of which cost about 300,000 won. Even then, Mr. Park tends to be on the well-fed side.

Working Citizens Cannot Eat Meat Even Once A Month

Kim Jung Ok (Alias), who sustains her living through a noodle business in the Hyeryung South Gate jang (market), has a monthly living expense of approximately 60,000 won. Ms. Kim is a housewife, who has taken on the responsibility of her three-member family.

Even if she sells noodles all day, she only makes 2,000~3,000 won. She merely earns around 60,000 won per month, all of which goes to food. Making a profit from her business is a mere dream, she expresses. She cannot even think about rice; after buying 70 kg of corn (23,000 won), bean oil, beans (950 won per kg) and other vegetables, she has nothing left.

The monthly income of her husband, who works at a machine shop in Hoiryeong, is 4,000 won. That is enough to buy 4kg of rice. Fearing starvation if she solely depended on her husband, she opened her noodle shop 10 years ago. “Even if we are both working like this, it is barely enough for corn meals. It is difficult to buy a kg of meat in a month. It has been a long time since I fed meat to my child,” she confessed.

Currently, with the exception of storekeepers who trade with Chinese emigrants, foreign currency traders, and those who have relatives in China, a majority of residents in Hoiryeong live daily as Mr. Park.

Recently, the Ministry of People’s Safety Agency issued the order that “Rations will be distributed in April. So, stop engaging in illegal trade.” Due to this decree, the control of the jangmadang (market) has been tightened. Discontent among residents who sell Chinese industrial products has climaxed, “How can we live if they feign ignorance while not providing the rations?”

The regulation of jangmadang (market) by ministry officials has only raised the price of Chinese industrial products. Before that, there would be joint bargains, but now, purchasers are visiting the merchants and so the costs of products are going up.

On one hand, the influence of the dollar’s recent bearish turn in the international market is fully reflected in the North Korean black market. The exchange rate of 800 won to a dollar between the Chinese Yuan and the dollar remains unchanging, but the North Korean currency following suit to the dollar and the Yuan changes day to day. Ultimately, North Korea is not “a region with a fixed exchange rate” due to the fact that exchange merchants occasionally apply the exchange information received from China.

Due to the dollar’s slump, the ratio of the North Korean won to the dollar and to the Yuan has been on the decline for several months. Mr. Park said, “In January, the North Korean currency went up to 42,000 won per 100 won RMB, but has drastically gone down to 36,500 won per 100 won.”

Posted in 1990s Famine, 2002 Economic reforms, Agriculture, Agriculture statistics, Black markets, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Price liberalization, Private property | Comments Closed

Stop Illegal Trade! Rations Will Begin April

Thursday, March 29th, 2007

Daily NK
Han Young Jin
3/29/2007

North Korean inside source informed that authorities had been asserting control over illegal selling and use of mobile phones at the markets near the border regions. National Security Agents have also been conducting in-depth investigations on illegal acts such as drug smuggling and slave trade.

In a telephone conversation with a reporter on the 28th, Park Jong Run (pseudonym) of Musan, North Hamkyung said, “Authorities came to the People’s Units and said furtively, ‘Rations will be distributed in April. In future, you will live a good life. So, stop engaging in illegal trade.’ Why would we listen to them when they tell us to stop selling especially since they aren’t going to give us distributions anyway?”

Park relayed, “They said, don’t sell our confidential information about our country through the mobile phone. People already in possession of mobile phones will be forgiven if they self-confess at the National Security Agency.” Since last year, North Korean authorities have been keeping a close watch on mobile phone use particularly in the border regions.

He said, “They threaten us with a declaration, so that we will report cases of illegality or corruption such as slave trade and drug trade.” For example, large amounts of drugs were found in the home of a Chairwoman for the Women’s Union of Hoiryeong City, late February.

According to Park, authorities will directly carry out the procedures at Jangmadang (markets) themselves, with assistance from Hoiryeong Security Agency and various police departments. Some goods found to be linked to illegal trade are in part taken away by the sudden wave of control. In particular, these authorities have a keen eye for goods made overseas such as Chinese items.

National Security Agents and the police confiscate the items arguing that, “now we have a gap between the rich and poor, as well as the richer getting richer and vice versa, because you, tradesmen have tasted some money. Now, socialism has been infected by capitalism.” However, even the security agents are acting tactful by removing only some of the goods as a mere example of punishment.

Goods confiscated are locked up at the security agency and kept in provision. The endless lines in the waiting rooms of the security agency make up the people ready to pay a fine and recollect their items, says Park. Nonetheless, security agents are reluctant to return the goods back to the traders and so bribes must be ready at hand also.

“I barely got my goods back after bribing them with 10 packets of cigarettes, but there was only half the goods left remaining in the bundle” Park criticized and said that the security agents sarcastically remarked, ‘Hey, let us eat and live a little.”

Following the nuclear experiment, authorities have been trying to gather regime support and elevate the nation’s pride arguing the nation had become a strong militaristic country. They proclaim, “The world is cooperating with us and is throwing their goods at us. In future, you will live well.” It will be difficult for North Korean authorities to prohibit trade, especially with the people’s strong will power to make money.

Posted in Agriculture, Black markets, Cell phones, Communications, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), International Aid, Public Distribiution System (PDS) | Comments Closed

Author sees North Korea as reluctant to reform

Monday, March 26th, 2007

Reuters
Paul Eckert
3/23/2007

The diplomatic deal that promises to bring North Korea aid in exchange for scrapping its nuclear weapon programs might allow the government to resist meaningful economic changes, an expert on the secretive communist country’s economy said on Friday.

Marcus Noland of the Peterson Institute, a Washington economic think tank, said research for his new book on North Korea’s deadly 1990s famine showed Pyongyang was “at best, ambivalent” about changing policies that led to that disaster.

“The great hope is that reassurances in terms of external security will give the North Korean regime the political room to engage in greater political and economic liberalization at home,” the economist told Reuters in an interview.

But the diplomacy playing out in Beijing could have the opposite effect, said Noland, co-author of “Famine in North Korea: Markets, Aid and Reform” with Stephen Haggard of the University of California, San Diego.

“It could well be that a nuclear deal that resulted in greater amounts of aid would actually allow the North Korean government to intensify activities that are essentially reestablishing economic and political control over the population,” he said.

Negotiators from North and South Korea, China, the United States, Japan and Russia were in Beijing this week, seeking to begin implementing a Feb. 13 deal that would give the North aid and security assurances in return for shutting down a nuclear reactor and preparing other disarmament steps.

Noland’s 368-page study of the famine that killed an estimated 1 million North Koreans in the late 1990s shows how the rigid central planners of Pyongyang were forced to allow markets to feed people and to give farmers some limited freedoms, but then pulled back when the disaster eased.

“When things look better … the North Korean government tries to pull back on this process of marketization and reform,” Noland said.

“One of the saddest things is that as food aid began arriving in North Korea, the regime systematically cut the amount of food it bought on commercial terms,” he said.

The author of three books on North Korea decries what he says are “truly reckless” food policies since the end of the famine. Pyongyang has banned trading in grain on markets that people rely upon for food, confiscated grain in rural areas and reneged on policy promises to farmers, he said.

“In a variety of ways, it seems to want to put the genie back in the bottle,” he said.

Posted in Agriculture, Agriculture statistics, International Aid, Political economy, UN World Food Program | Comments Closed

North Korea facing 1 milion tonne food shortage-WFP

Monday, March 26th, 2007

Reuters
Lindsay Beck
3/26/2007

North Korea has admitted for the first time to food shortages of a million tonnes, the World Food Programme said on Monday, adding that in the absence of better donor support, millions are vulnerable to hunger.

In the past that food gap — which represents about 20 percent of North Korea’s needs — was met by a combination of bilateral aid, WFP support, loans and commercial interests, but those sources are all drying up, the WFP said.

“This is a very significant development that they themselves are confirming they have a gap of 1 million tonnes,” WFP Asia director Tony Banbury told Reuters.

The figure, which is in line with U.N. estimates, was given in a meeting with the vice-minister of agriculture, Banbury said in an interview from North Korea, where he met officials at the Agriculture Ministry and Foreign Ministry and spent three days in the field.

“There is a real food security problem in the country that is now not being met either by domestic production or external sources.”

North Korea suffered a famine in the mid-1990s that killed as many as 2.5 million people, and has since suffered chronic food shortages.

The WFP began working there in the aftermath of the famine and grew into its biggest humanitarian agency, but was forced to radically scale back its programme last year after the government said it no longer wanted handouts.

Under its new programme, the U.N. agency aims to reach about 1.9 million people, but Banbury said a lack of donor support meant it was only reaching 700,000 of a total population of about 23 million.

North Korea, which tested its first nuclear device last year and is at the centre of diplomatic efforts to dismantle its atomic programme, has made incremental improvements in the nutritional status of children, but that could be reversed.

“There is a real risk that we’re going to see backtracking on the improvements, and people who are just on the edge and vulnerable could find themselves in a very difficult situation from a food and nutritional standpoint,” Banbury said.

Despite the close government watch maintained throughout the visit, Banbury said that for the first time WFP officials were granted a spontaneous request to see government warehouses that store WFP-donated food.

“On the one hand, it was very innocuous — it was just a warehouse with sacks of food in it. On the other hand, it was symbolically, quite important and welcome,” he said.

There were also moments of frankness from officials in the country known for its reclusiveness during Banbury’s visits to a paediatric hospital, a boarding school and orphanages in the west of the country.

“In every institution we visited there were malnourished children, according to the officials there themselves, not just our observations,” Banbury said.

Some of the children were severely malnourished, he said.

“It was my impression that the person on the street — the woman riding the bicycle, the kid walking along the side of the street — was thin and hungry and needed more food than they were getting.”

Posted in Agriculture, International Aid, UN World Food Program | Comments Closed

Money Means Everything

Monday, March 19th, 2007

Daily NK
Kim Min Se
3/19/2007

Today, a rich person in North Korea is someone who can spend roughly US$100~$500 (300,000~1.5mn North Korean won) a month. This amount is so large, that it is a figure unfathomable to the average North Korean.

Nowadays, a small number of lower class North Koreans sell noodles at the markets and earn 1,500~2,000won a day. On average, this equates to 50,000~60,000won a month. Additionally, the living costs of a family of 4 in Pyongyang normally costs about 50,000~100,000won.

While a laborer with a stable job earns about 2,000~3,000won (approx. US$0.66~1) a month, spending more than 100,000won (approx. US$32.2) a month is an extravagant figure. Simply put, it has become difficult to live only on selling noodles.

Anyone who spends more than 100,000won a month is probably eating rice and can afford to eat nutritious vegetables. This is the middle class of North Korea today.

The distinctive nature of this middle class is the disparity of the work as well as their past background being rather simple. This class has naturally appeared simply because of their genuine skills. These people know exactly the flow of the market and know how to make money. The only thing important to them is finding the opportunity to make money. In all, they have come to an understanding that money is needed in order to buy goods and live a life to the envy of others.

This middle class is closely linked to power. If a person only takes pride in the sense that he/she can money, then that person will be hit with a severe fall. It is a characteristic of North Korean society that power is critical in living a life making lots of money without trouble.

With money, these people are earning even more by buying the supervision of low ranking safety and security agents and local administrative officers. Simply put, the small amount of money invested as bribery in securing a good location at the markets is petty compared to the income reaped. In other words, whenever a new market is established at a village, a person can be confident in having the best spot by winning over the person in charge. For example, the bidding for the best spot at the Sunam Market, Chongjin is 900,000~1.5mn won (approx. US$290~$490).

Entrepreneurs may become the rich after regime reform

In 2002, the North Korean government passed the July 1st economic reforms which gave more freedom to marketers with less control by authorities and hence, trade became more active.

The mindset of the middle are so fixated on money, that they believe that money can solve anything even if a war was to break out the following day or North Korea was to be completely overturned. Though these people conspire with those in power in order to make money, they are unconcerned with what happens or rather does not happen to the Kim Jong Il regime.

There is a definitive difference between the middle class who are rubbing hands and the central class just in case the Kim Jong Il regime did collapse, compared to the upper class. The middle class are not from any particular special background, but with the skills and guile of making wealth, they are confident that there will be no problems irrespective of regime change.

People from this class even have the freedom to save and keep some food and daily necessities in preparation of this incident. Furthermore, currency is undoubtedly being saved, this also being foreign currency such as dollars. This, they call emergency relief in preparation for the time the North Korean regime does collapse, as well as a safe deposit to use whenever trade needed.

In addition, with the change of the North Korean regime, this class will be able to celebrate and radically transform from being an entrepreneur to the newly-rich with all the wealth acquired during the Kim Jong Il regime.

Posted in 2002 Economic reforms, Agriculture, Black markets, Civil society, Economic reform, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Labor conditions/wages, Real estate, Sunam market | Comments Closed

Cause of Barren Mountains: Imperialism-Natural Disaster-Officers

Friday, March 16th, 2007

Daily NK
Han Young Jin
3/16/2007

“I ordered trees to be planted. Why are the mountains bare!”

North Korean authorities released a publication on the 6th which summarized that, “We must work hard in forestry in order to make our country beautiful.” This order was made by Kim Jong Il on March 6th 2002 to authorities, the state, military and the elite. 5 years on, authorities now honor and remember the words spoken by the dear leader through a propagandist publication that is published whenever the state deems necessary. The content of this publication was also revealed on the official North Korean website “Uriminzokkiri (amongst our nation).”

The document usually contains the comprehensive ideologies and theories made by Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il that need to be passed on to the people.

Following are a few of the decrees found in the publications.

“The nation is experiencing economic difficulty due to coupling natural disasters and imperialists who are trying to isolate us. Trees are growing sporadically in the hills and mountain regions. The mountains are also becoming barren….”

“For the past few years, I have been telling you to work hard afforestation and have encouraged you at every opportunity.”

“However, an forestation has not met the criteria of authorities and is not going according to plan.”

Kim Jong Il’s Analysis

What Kim Jong Il is trying to say is that, “The reason afforestation is not working is because of the people’s reckless slash-and-burn cultivation, as well as the inefficiency of officers unable to block it.”

After the food crisis in ’95, people uprooted vines and trees to suffice their underfed diets, as well as cultivating illegal farms for food. Further, to save themselves from freezing to death, people used trees as firewood.

At the time, people were desolate, battling between life and death. If, however, these people were controlled and prohibited from such actions at the time, defectors say that many of those people would not be alive today.

The destruction of mountains Kim Jong Il argues resulted from cunning imperialists isolating North Korea and the severe natural disasters that continued to plague the country. Yet, there is no evidence to support this claim.

The international community did not enforce pressure to the extent that North Korea could not resolve its problem of firewood. Rather, after the 1994 Geneva Agreement, 50,000 tons of fuel was provided annually. Despite this, Kim Jong Il always redirects the responsibility of lack of energy on the international community and the failure of public welfare on the U.S.

Even evidence to support that natural disasters caused a downfall to the economy has become obscure. It is true that North Korea was hit with drought and flood during 1995~1997, however there has not been any major natural disasters since this time and in 2002 when these decrees were first made. Instead, North Korea should have re-planted much of the mountain trees, though reality is not the case. Rather, Kim Jong Il is blaming the failure of national construction and forestation on mother nature.

Without resolving the food crisis, the mountains will remain bare

Every year, for about a month during the spring (early March~April) and fall (early Nov~Dec) seasons, North Korea enters a time of national construction where the rivers and waterways are cleared and trees planted. This national construction first began in March 1996.

North Korea has aimed to plant a billion trees and has been planting this number of trees every year. Following 10 years of national construction, what is the current state of North Korea?

If national construction had worked as planned, North Korea’s mountains should be dense in trees. However, the cause of North Korea’s mountains being so bare is evidence that the food crisis has not yet been solved.

North Korean authorities ordered citizens that they had the right to eat the tree saplings and cereals as it had been cultivated on the mountains which were illegal grounds. On the other hand, the people are continuously angry as trees are overtaking the land in which their grains should be planted. As a result, whenever a tree has grown a certain height, people uproot the trees and plant a smaller sapling in its place. In the end, though the idea of planting trees has been fulfilled, the mountains are still barren.

Ultimately, it seems that North Korea’s empty mountains will continue until the food issue is resolved.

Posted in Agriculture, Domestic publication, Forestry | Comments Closed

Yongchun Explosion…Chinese Merchants First to Inform

Wednesday, March 14th, 2007

Daily NK
Kim Min Se
3/14/2007

It is a well known fact that goods made in China are sweeping across North Korea with Chinese merchants taking the role of distributor.

However, Chinese merchants are not only exporting goods into North Korea but are also importing goods made in North Korea such as seafood, medicinal herbs, coal and minerals back to China.

Particularly, dried shellfish sells very well in China. As more and more Chinese merchants buy dried shellfish from North Korean markets, they play a critical role in the lives of North Korean citizens as sellers who are then able to raise the price due to demand. Every year, from April~Sept, people from the North-South Pyongan, Haean collect shellfish along the shore. 10kg of rice can be bought with 1kg of shellfish meat. Consequently, citizens of other regions also come to the beaches to collect shellfish.

If Chinese merchants did not import any goods and North Korea’s finest goods were not exported to China, the cost of goods at Jangmadang would increase exponentially. This is how close the relationship between the lives of North Korean citizens and Chinese merchants have become interconnected.

Significance of information runners

Though Chinese merchants are currently contributing to market stability, it does not necessarily mean that their existence will continue to be positive to North Korean authorities.

The people first to inform news of the Yongchun explosion in April 2004 to the outside world were Chinese merchants.

At the time, after confirming the lives their family members in North Korea, Chinese merchants who heard the explosion in Dandong gathered information about the explosion details from relatives in Shinuiju and Yongchun over mobile phones. Undoubtedly, news spread instinctively. The economic development zone, Dandong, which is at the mouth of the Yalu River is merely 10km from Yongchun.

Due to this incident, Kim Jong Il banned the use of mobile phones in North Korea. Chinese merchants have played a great role in the outflow of inside North Korean issues, a problem feared by North Korean authorities that contributes to the inflow of foreign information.

Recently, Chinese merchants have been charging a 20% fee involved in remitting dollars to defectors wanting to send money to family in North Korea. For example, if a defector wishes to send $1,000 to family in North Korea, a merchant will extract $200 and transfer the remaining $800 to the family.

As long as Chinese merchants have a specific identification card, they are free to travel between the North Korean-Chinese border and hence many defectors prefer to use Chinese merchants as the intermediary. Thanks to these merchants, many people can convey money and letters to family within North Korea.

In these respects, Chinese merchants are not only selling goods but are acting as information runners transporting news of the outside world into North Korean society.

As more and more North Koreans rely on markets as a means of living and trade between China and North Korea, the North Korean market will only continue to expand. We will have to wait and see whether or not Chinese merchants will have a healing or poisonous affect on the Kim Jong Il regime from here on in.

Posted in Agriculture, Banking, Black markets, Cell phones, China, Coal, Communications, Finance, General markets (FMR: Farmers Market), Indigenous medicine, International trade | Comments Closed

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