Raid: in the name of the World Cup Olympics
In the traditional sense, Chinatown generally has Chinese architecture and archways as eye-catching signs, but there is no such place in Sao Paulo. However, if you ask the local people where Chinatown is on the streets of Sao Paulo, they will all say the same place name: Block 25, because it is a famous gathering place for small commodities in Sao Paulo and even Brazil.
People who have lived in Shanghai and Sao Paulo for some time will say, "This is Qipu Road in Sao Paulo." Brazilians associate the 25th block with China people because most of the shops here are run by Chinese, and the proportion of small commodities "Made in China" is even higher.
On March 20 1 1 year 17, a store building in the 25th block was closed and searched by the municipal government. For several days, from morning to evening, all the doors of this building were closed, and the front door was blocked by yellow and black seals.
Under the protection of the police car, the porters kept throwing a woven bag containing confiscated goods from the building onto the big truck to collect the goods. According to the police, there are shops selling counterfeit goods or smuggled goods, as well as security risks such as fire prevention. There are more than 900 shops in the building, more than 80% of which are run by Chinese.
The raid two months ago was only part of the whole operation.
On May 14, local Chinese businessman Li Jun got up at 6 o'clock as usual and drove to his perfume shop in the 25th block. Li Jun's shop has always been the first to open in the 25th block. Shops in the 25 th block often have a brisk business.
In addition to putting the new goods into the warehouse in the attic of the shop, Li Jun had to eat breakfast before the Brazilian employees went to work. Li Jun said: "When business is good, there is not even time to drink water." From time to time, this perfume shop also receives orders from other States.
In the afternoon, Li Jun went out to do business. At 3 o'clock, the employees in the store called him and said that the city government had copied the shopping mall, and the shops inside were blocked by the police.
"When I got back, I saw a policeman guarding outside the mall, and the merchants came out. I chatted with my friends and learned that they suffered heavy losses. "
Li Jun's shop was closed for a few days and then opened again. Although it was nothing, if he didn't make money every day, he would be losing money. "My business has invoices and the tax is very formal." Li Jun said, "But I heard that many families have been copied, mostly selling fake LV and fake brand-name clothes and shoes."
The sudden raid by the Sao Paulo municipal government did not surprise Li Juntai: "I didn't get the news in advance, but I didn't expect it." However, this has been the case recently. I think I will come sooner or later. Because Brazil wants to host the 20 14 World Cup and the 20 16 Olympic Games, they are very tight on counterfeit goods. "
Li Jun is one of the few businesses with modest losses, and more Chinese shops are not so lucky.
Loss mystery: 8000 black Austria for half the goods
The large-scale investigation and rectification of shops selling fake goods and smuggled goods in Sao Paulo began in February, and the perfume shop and the shopping mall where Chinese businessman You Jing was located were the first targets of investigation and rectification.
According to You Jing, on the morning of February 8, at 1 1 o'clock, people from the municipal government of S? o Paulo suddenly appeared in the shopping mall, and the entourage wearing police uniforms closed the store door without any explanation. Along with people from other departments, including the Immigration Bureau, their task is to check passports and visas.
"Who knows they will come! I didn't even have any news beforehand, or maybe someone else did. Anyway, I don't know. " You Jing said. No matter how the reporter of the Overseas Chinese News (hereinafter referred to as "the reporter") asks, he doesn't want to mention the lost property and goods again. He said helplessly, "What's the use of saying it now? I resigned myself. If the municipal government wants to check, it can't stop it, and what is charged is only charged. What can we do? Things have passed, and there is nothing to say now. "
Regarding the future operation, you Jing himself can't say it well. "Take it one step at a time, otherwise what can I do? Mix where is where! Everyone in the 25 th block has been checked recently, and now most of them are open. "
You Jing kept his mouth shut for a reason, and his sister revealed the mystery.
"It's no use asking him. He won't talk. We managed to get some goods back afterwards." Mr. You's sister said this, but she was not as relieved as her brother. "Now our store has opened again, but we still lost a lot. At that time, the city government raided the store from upstairs to downstairs to fill the goods. Where can I seal it in one day? There are three or four hundred stores in the whole shopping mall! "
Then, you Jing's sister lowered her voice a little and continued, "I copied the upper floors on the first day." Before the following floors were filled, everyone thought of some' methods' to redeem the goods. " She didn't want to talk about it at first, but after repeated questioning, she revealed a fact: on the day when the mall was closed, those merchants who were temporarily spared United to buy off the "people inside the police" and sneaked in at a certain time in the evening to bring out the goods in their own shops. In order to cope with the next raid, the merchant can only pick up half of the goods in the store.
"A store has to pay 8,000 heiao, which should be almost 5,000 US dollars (equivalent to about 32,000 yuan). We will give the money to the police and get half of the goods back at night." You Jing's sister doesn't care what the money is. "Fine or bribe, anyway, we will pay the money with others and get the goods at a special time in the evening. There are also policemen standing guard at night. As for who 8000 Heiao is given to, we don't know. It's good to get the goods back. "
Under the cover of the nest: Chinese businessmen are in a difficult situation
The high-frequency raids for three consecutive months have left many Chinese businessmen in S? o Paulo in a bad situation. In the face of such high-intensity and high-frequency closing and receiving goods, Chinese businessmen who can maintain a slight loss have already felt very lucky.
Sharla Cheung is one of these lucky people, but many friends and relatives around him have suffered greatly, "because their' smuggling building' was completely shut down."
The commonly known "smuggling building" is another name for a Chinese shopping mall building in the 25th block of Sao Paulo. As the name implies, most of the merchants in this building sell smuggled goods. "How many people here have not been charged with goods? It's all open after a while. Despite the losses, it can always persist. " Sharla Cheung said, "The smuggling building was closed this time, and the livelihood of the shopkeepers inside became a problem. I know a couple from Shanghai. They have been in Brazil for almost 20 years, and they have been living in peace for such a long time. As a result, after checking this year, they said that they would sell their houses and cars to return to China, and now they have begun to pack. "
Chinese businessmen in Brazil say that business is getting harder and harder now. "The public security here is very bad, and it is easy to be robbed. Not to mention the high taxes, the procedures are still very complicated. "
According to the Brazilian media, the high tax revenue in Brazil is unimaginable. Take the perfume shop often opened by Chinese businessmen as an example: a bottle of 2 12 men's perfume from Miami, USA, costs about 200 heiao (about 975 RMB) after tax is added at the place of origin, while the same perfume sold in Sao Paulo through normal channels costs about 300 heiao (about 1463 RMB), including 78% tax. Comparing the tax revenue of the two places, the average tax revenue in Miami does not exceed 65%, while the tax revenue in S? o Paulo far exceeds this figure.
Some Brazilian website media pointed out that Brazil's total tax revenue has occupied a great part of Brazil's national fiscal revenue, and the government has made a huge economic amount by virtue of tax revenue.
A few years ago, Mr. Zhang returned to China and got a large order in Yiwu. He thinks there are great business opportunities, and if the trade route from China to Brazil can be opened, there will be a lot of profits. According to Mr. Zhang's calculation, although he doesn't earn as much as smuggling, he can still make a profit by taking the normal route in Brazil.
But the result is not as expected by Mr. Zhang. "The original batch of boxes was to catch up with the Christmas business, and people here have placed orders." Mr. Zhang said, "As a result, the container has already arrived, and you can't pick up the goods here. It takes months to go to pay taxes. " By the time the goods arrived in Mr. Zhang's hand, the Christmas period had already passed, and the guests who had originally ordered had withdrawn their orders. In addition to the cancellation fee, Mr. Zhang himself had to eat all the unwanted goods.
Businessmen in Sao Paulo feel that the situation is not optimistic. Under the cover of the nest, does Ann have the eggs? Shops feel sad, and those employees don't know what to do. Lili is a member of the army who came from Fujian to work in Brazil to earn money. As a newcomer, she has no language, no money and no legal status. Her only choice is to work as a shop assistant in a Chinese shop to earn a living while learning a language, and at the same time send money back to her hometown.
"Although it is the boss who loses when the police come to replenish the goods, you can't go to work when the store is closed. Waiting for one time is ten days and a half months, and the salary will definitely be less. " Lily quite understands, "and some bosses pay too much if they don't open it, then we part-time workers will have nothing to do." I heard that it was easy to find a job before, but the 25 th block has been depressed recently. "
Sao Paulo city government: not targeting Chinese, we should continue to promote it.
Some closed shopping malls have resumed normal business one after another. However, the municipal government of Sao Paulo said that this activity will not just pass, but will be a long-term battle, and the shopping malls that have resumed business now are likely to face repeated spot checks.
The counterfeit famous brands involved in these large-scale actions include: Adidas, Reebok, Brooksfield, LV and other famous brands; The types of goods involved are: leather goods, clothing accessories, mobile phones, home appliances, perfumes, toys, navigators, computers, cameras and so on.
R7, a famous news website in Brazil, said that Galeria Page Mall, which was inspected in April 201/2000, will be transformed into a brand discount store to prevent the recurrence of counterfeiting, tax evasion and other illegal activities.
Many Chinese were involved in large-scale raids such as shops and 25 blocks in St. Paulista district. Their shops were blocked and their property suffered serious losses, which attracted many Chinese businessmen's dissatisfaction. "China people are dead here and no one is in charge." Chinese businessmen who have collected a lot of goods have said, "The Brazilians just want to get us, and we can't help it."
As a representative of the government, Ai Jisong, director of the municipal police department who went to communicate with the China Consulate in Sao Paulo, denied such accusations. He said that this operation arrested some illegal merchants, including Brazilians and people from other countries, including many people from China. However, this is not an action against Chinese. He came to the China Consulate in S? o Paulo to prove this point to the vast number of Chinese who legally live and do business in S? o Paulo.
Businessmen's dissatisfaction and complaints seem to have little influence on the municipal government of S? o Paulo: On May 1 1, Boulevard Monti Maré Mall, located in the center of S? o Paulo, with the cooperation of the government tax inspector, the police of S? o Paulo and the Civil Guard, continued to check and control the illegal goods and shops in the mall. The city government of Sao Paulo said it was a follow-up to a special activity that began in February.
Known as "No Fake Goods and No Tax Evasion in Cities", this campaign unites the federal government, the state government and the municipal government of S? o Paulo, aiming at banning smuggling and tax evasion, selling counterfeit brand-name products and other criminal crimes that have existed for a long time in the local area. The government claimed that this was the most severe crackdown in Brazil since the 1990s. The mayor of Sao Paulo, Kashabi, strongly supports this action. He once said: "This behavior of illegal merchants not only helps the crime rate, but also makes more people unemployed, so we need a stronger means to combat this illegal behavior."
The police chief of S? o Paulo recently said that he would intensify the crackdown on this illegal behavior-not only in S? o Paulo, but also in other parts of Brazil.
"Sports rectification" does not cure the problem
Developing countries with certain strength often ignore the inherent laws because they pursue speed in the process of development, so there are always various problems that accompany development. It is a common method to rectify problems in order to hold large-scale events. China is like this, so is Brazil.
It is unfair and putting the cart before the horse to blame illegal shops for the breeding of crime and the rising unemployment rate, because illegal shops are the birth of both. That's just to make this operation look more reasonable. Even if this store closure will become a normal state as the official said, it still cannot change its one-sided nature.
Now Brazilian officials seem to think that rectification, strike hard and surprise actions are a panacea for urban governance. However, it is obviously a cover my ears to think that everything will be fine once the store is closed. This kind of stability is fragile, and it can only be dealt with for a while, "they are tall once more in the spring wind" after the exercise.
(Studying abroad in liuxue86.com)