SHENZHEN, China: It's 10 p.m. in the world's largest electronics market, and lines of delivery workers who once hauled computer components and knock-off phones now push carts overflowing with Mac lipsticks, Bioderma cleansers and other foreign beauty brands.
Huaqiangbei is home to dozens of multistorey malls housing about 38,000 businesses that historically sold microchip reels and other components. It is also a matchmaking hub for global companies looking to get things made in nearby factories. "For importers with the right licenses, we can buy in bulk here and sell products at a few cents' markup each," said a trader named Scott, declining to give his full name, worried he would get in trouble with security staff for speaking to a journalist.