Chinese Products Dominant in Indonesia

It seems that wherever you go in Indonesia and whatever market you enter, you will inevitably see Chinese-made products for sale. Walk along the main street in Yogyakarta, Jalan Malioboro, and you will find shops that sell nothing but imported Chinese products.

Yeah I know, the Chinese population in Yogya is large, but go into any shop not owned by Chinese persons and you will find these products, somewhere. I have nothing against Chinese products, in fact, a lot of the clothes I wear are Chinese-made and are really good!. But it appears there is a strong dominance in the marketplace according to an article in Tempo magazine.

Based on tentative data from the Central Bureau of Statistics, the total imports of Chinese products throughout last year, which reached US$5.50 billion (Rp49.5 trillion), were also higher than Japan’s (US$5.48 billion). This is due to impressive growth of 30 percent over the past seven years.

The five favourite goods frequently imported are electrical products and equipment, fruits, vegetables, plastic toys, and organic chemicals.