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Ad Hock Capitalism in China

SHANGHAI In China's land of economic contradictions,van cleef alhambra knock off necklace, pawnshop visitors aren't just the down and out. They're also the up and coming entrepreneurs spearheading the country's long march toward market reforms.

The pawnshops help them out by taking as collateral real estate, luxury cars, stocks and bonds. But the shops are flexible, if all you have is a stamp collection, computer equipment or even abstract paintings you drew yourself.

"People who make millions come to me for help because, hey, even the emperor has a bad day once in a while," said Ma Ding, manager at a Shanghai pawnshop.

The second oldest profession on Earth owes much of its rebirth in China to the problems plaguing the Communist banking system. Private businesses have virtually no access to commercial loans from state banks, which are struggling with mountains of bad debt from lending to poorly operated state owned industries.

"The No. 1 challenge facing small and medium enterprises is funding," said Zhang Lingxiao, a manager at the business service center run by the Bank of China. "Banks are reluctant to lend to them because they have little credit history and little appropriate collateral. It's very hard for them to qualify."

In the early years of Communist China,van cleef and arpel replica necklace, pawnshops were attacked as a symbol of class oppression. Beijing shut them down in the 1950s, along with all other forms of private enterprise.

The doors to pawnshops didn't reopen until 1987, and demand was so great that the number of brokers nationwide climbed to more than 4,000. But with the healthy demand came shady operators who used the shops to launder money and stolen goods.

To stop the proliferation, Beijing placed pawnshops under the jurisdiction of the central bank in the 1990s. The number of shops shrank to about 1,200, and no new ones were allowed to open.

Then, last August, Beijing switched gears again, releasing pawnshops from the grip of the central bank.

"China's pawn industry has explosive growth potential, but, like the stock market, it is just beginning to open up," said Ma, the 37 year old manager at Heng Tong Pawnshop in Shanghai.

From the marquee to the service counter, pawnshops in China's major cities are visual copycats of modern state banks. Large marble counters and clear glass dividers have long replaced hard to reach small windows with metal bars, which were trademarks of traditional Chinese pawnshops.

Ordinary citizens go to pawnshops to obtain loans to pay for emergency hospital bills, school fees, job search expenses, even vacations. Such a step was unthinkable during Mao Tse tung's era, when the state paid for everything, assigned jobs and restricted travel.

Entrepreneurs looking for a hassle free bailout are regulars at the shops.

"They are a huge help to private businessmen like myself," said Jiang Hua,van cleef alhambra replica necklace, owner of a Shanghai printing shop who frequently pawns his diamond ring and Rolex watch to solve cash flow problems.

"There are still a lot of people who don't know about us and are shocked to find out that a Communist country has pawnshops," Ma said.

Majority of Patrons Own a Business

More than 60% of his clients run a business of some sort. One man, Ma remembers,van cleef arpel knock off necklace, was desperate to buy fancy utensils and pay chefs so that he could open his restaurant in time for Christmas Eve. He arrived at the pawnshop in his Mercedes Benz. Ma gave him $7,000 on the spot.

Then there was the optometrist who needed a few hundred bucks to pick up merchandise from an out of town factory. All he had was a digital camera. Ma made him a deal.

But when a 70 year old retired Communist Party cadre asked for $2,400 to open an art gallery in northern China, Ma wasn't so sure. The man gave him a bunch of homemade calligraphy scrolls and abstract paintings that no other pawnshops wanted.

The paintings still hang in Ma's shop. He knew that there would be no takers, but he was moved by the old man and gave him a few hundred dollars anyway.

The majority of his clients, however, are able to reclaim their property within weeks, paying about 5% interest for a monthlong loan. In California, by comparison, the maximum monthly interest rate that banks can charge on loans exceeding $1,650 is 1%.

The Wall

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