feed the dragon

feed the dragon

1. To outsource business or jobs to China. A reference to the Chinese dragon, a long-established symbol of Chinese culture and mythology. With labor-law pressures and costs so much lower in China, it's no wonder more and more manufacturing firms are choosing to feed the dragon rather than pay for workers at home to do the same task.
2. To purchase or sell products that are made or imported from China. Everything that store sells is marked "Made in China." I'd rather not feed the dragon, so I buy my equipment elsewhere.
3. To devote or contribute an undue amount of resources, time, or energy to a self-perpetuating pursuit, situation, behavior, or desire. His addiction had become so severe that he sold everything he owned to keep feeding the dragon. The country's leaders enlisted every able man to feed the dragon of its war of expansion. We're brainwashed from a young age to continue feeding the dragon of consumerism.
See also: dragon, feed
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • let a hundred flowers bloom
  • phone
  • give (someone) face
  • since Hector was a pup
  • sow dragon's teeth
  • spend a packet
  • a Pandora's box
  • Pandora's box
  • open (a) Pandora's box
  • Pandora
References in periodicals archive
One Pacific participant spoke of the need for island countries to 'feed the dragon, tame it and then ride it'.
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We feed the dragon and then wonder why it breathes fire.
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Other activities include The Chamber of Secrets, an elaborate and cleverly-designed maze, the Genie Jump, a trampoline created for older children and Feed the Dragon, where children aged three-to-six catch toy fish in a pond and feed them to their fiery friend.
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It includes the Chamber of Secrets that is designed as an elaborate maze, the Genie Jump bungee where teenagers can experience the thrill of bungee jumping, and Feed the Dragon in which children aged three to six catch toy fish and feed it to a hungry toy dragon.
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