This working paper sidelines the use of official trade data in a study of China-Palestine commerce for an ethnography informed methodology that offers an alternative perspective on globalised Palestinian economic exchange. This approach is anchored in an exploration of the nuanced motivations, fears, ambitions, and associated practices of lesser acknowledged actors who mediate the Palestinian trade economy.

I first visited Yiwu in 2017 after a Syrian businessman in Shanghai encouraged me to speak to those who, in his opinion, could give me an insight into the true nature of China-Middle East trade.