Cross-border grocery shopping, 2010 edition

A little more than two years ago I posted this entry, titled "Cross-border grocery shopping." We were still living in Shenzhen at that time, and because of my OB appointments (and occasional boredom), Myles and I were crossing the Hong Kong border at Shenzhen Wan a few times a month.  While there for the day, I was also buying a lot of my imported and specialty groceries in Hong Kong because these were much less expensive there than in Shenzhen.  It wasn't easy hauling 20 litres of milk on the bus and then across the border.  However, the money I saved by buying the same brand of milk in Hong Kong more than paid for our bus tickets both ways (around 200 RMB!) At the same time, many Hong Kong residents, particularly from the New Territories, were crossing the border into China to accomplish a lot of their grocery shopping because the prices on a lot of the food in the Chinese diet were much lower on the mainland than in Hong Kong.

I would have assumed this is still the case, even after our most recent visit to Hong Kong over the October holiday week. This morning, though, I read something in the South China Morning Post that surprised me: most groceries are now cheaper in Hong Kong, across the board, and Shenzheners are exercising their new-ish rights to cross the border more freely than before, and returning to the PRC loaded down with groceries.  Even personal care items, like brand-name shower soaps, manufactured in China and exported to Hong Kong cost less in Hong Kong.  Randy believes that part of this is likely due to the tax rebate manufacturers get on exported product, but that does not account for the total delta.

Markets set the price, but how different are the markets of Shenzhen and Hong Kong.  Okay, then how do those differences translate to higher prices in Shenzhen?


And after what we spent today at an import grocery store, i am really wishing we were closer to Hong Kong again.