Abstract
Traditional markets in China were composed of periodic markets mainly in rural areas and of daily ones mostly in urban areas. They developed over a long history and their number surpassed 50,000 at the end of the Minguo period.
After the communist revolution, these markets were extremely restricted by the government under the socialization policy of economic activities. The number of markets decreased annually, and the volume of market trade shrank particularly when an extremely left-wing policy was adopted.
Since economic reform and the open-door policy started in 1978, the government has conversely encouraged market activities. Many markets were revived or newly opened, and the volume of market trade increased rapidly each year. Immigrant farmers and unemployed workers in the cities and small-sized part-time farmers in rural areas took part as traders at those markets.
Recently, however, the prosperity of the markets has begun to fade. The number of markets has started to decrease again, the volume of market trade has stagnated, and the share of market trade in total retail trade has shrunk. It is assumed that these new trends are caused by the proliferation of permanent shops, the diffusion of motorbikes, motortricycles, and minibuses in rural areas, the policy of moving street markets to indoor locations, and the rapid increase in supermarkets in urban areas.
