ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 introduces the translocal livelihoods of Kyrgyz middlemen residing in Guangzhou, southern China. First, it contrasts the occupational biographies of the bazaar traders in Novosibirsk to those of the Kyrgyz middlemen, the first of whom arrived to Guangzhou in 2006. The chapter demonstrates that the middlemen enjoyed a ‘softer’ market entry than the pioneering traders, because they had the opportunity to study Mandarin at university, the time to self-experiment with trading at lower risks, and thus to gradually refine their skill sets and networks. Within the bigger picture of how capitalist value chains evolve, the Kyrgyz middlemen present a first instance of diversification, as new service providers, and of professionalization, because their inclusion increased market efficiency. From the vantage point of younger generation, the chapter looks at Kyrgyz university students in Guangzhou, many of whom were sent there as representatives of larger trade families with the mission to reduce costs by bypassing the middlemen and to ‘upgrade’ their family’s value chain positioning.
