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Q: 'Made in China' - is it a source of shame for your Chinese friends?
Only the Chinese I know quite well have been open to me about it, and confessed just how embarassed they felt about this. Anyone else brought this up with Chinese friends?
Most Chinese I know are aware that their country makes cheap products which are regularly found to be dangerous or defective.
GuilinRaf:
Jackie Chan got into some hot water a few years back. I think he was being inteviewed and the reporter asked him why he had a japanese television set. Suposedly he answered that he did not buy a Chinese one because he was afraid it would explode...
No, it makes them proud. Do loads of products come from my country like China? No.
I know it bothers some Chinese who go to another country to buy things, only to find they were Made in China. Even though those items are made here, it doesn't mean you can buy them here. Where something is made is only really important if it's supposed to be authentic from that place. I think Made in China may bother some, but they also know it is how their economy has grown so quickly.
I can see how it might bother some. If they are going abroad and buying stuff made in China, they probably have to pay duty/taxes on the item to get it back into China.
I wouldn't say 'shame', but they are well aware that imported products tend to be somewhat superior to domestically made products - and more expensive.
They certainly seem a little proud when I mention most of my clothes are made in China...
I can only use the shopping habits of my girlfriends as a reference, but it seems they went out of their way to buy foreign made products when they were available and they could afford them. My current gf almost worships Amway. She said Chinese beauty products are rubbish. She loves the Amway system and culture and wishes China would adopt their way of business. I was skeptical at first, but let her have her thinking. One day, I used her toothpaste and now I understand her thinking. I began to notice more.
Amway sales people are courteous, diligent and never pushy. Totally unlike the sales experience in Chinese shops...but that is another topic.
I have yet to meet a local person who is proud of any Chinese product, besides Iphones and Ipads...which of course are mostly just assembled here.
In fact owning or using almost any foriegn brand is considered cool here and a sign of wealth.
The only people that drive Chinese cars here are people that can't afford a foreign brand or import. Same thing with most products.
My boyfriend only has problem for the food products that have been made in china. Other stuffs like clothes, shoes...he is okay. I'm OK when we come to the topic 'made in china'. And the most important thing is that 'I'm made in china'.
When my wife and I visited the States last July, she specifically looked for brands that were NOT made in China. She had a shopping list from friends who had the same requirement.
A recent article I read tells how many Chinese travel just to shop, prefering brands that are made and for sale in other countries. Outside of Seattle, we went into a factory outlet, and stepped inside one of the famous handbag stores (I forget which company). It was like being back in China, because 9 out of 10 people there were Chinese, buying up the handbags like crazy at $150 to $200 a pop. You can buy knock-offs anywhere here in town for 300 RMB, but they all wanted the real thing, and were not even blinking an eye at the price. The store clerk said that this was quite common.
It is no secret among friends I know that they think domestic products are shoddy and relatively unreliable. They often talk about how unsafe the products are and their willingness to spend a few extra Yuan for a foreign counterpart.
Now, I don't know for a fact if this is true, but a few people I've talked to have told me that some Chinese companies have different quality lines for the same product, and the better quality things get shipped overseas, while the inferior products get slated for domestic use.
Jnusb416:
I've heard that too, and I wouldn't be surprised. After all, if some stuff isn't up to par internationally, but it has a brand name, you would assume it's the same everywhere. But where people can make some profit, they try their best.
ice_anna:
Frankly speaking, I don't like the women who specially find products that are not made in china. Sometimes, it's just a scarf, after discount only 10 dollars, what is the difference between 'made in Italy' or 'made in China' or 'made in Marocco' or 'made in Turkey'. I always tease my friends when they do so. I only specially find products that are locally made when I'm in that country and really want to experience their domestic products, for example, when I was in Greece, I wanted to find locally made skin care products.
giadrosich:
The difference between "made in China" and "made in Italy," for most folks, is that the product made in Italy is better quality for the money, is going to last longer (like years instead of months), and actually retain some of its value. The same is true about many other products around the world. One of the reasons is that people in many countries demand quality from the products they buy, and there are generally consumer watch groups that encourage, and in some instances, enforce those standards. If you want to buy junk, by all means. It's your money. Personally, I work hard for mine, and will search out the better deal, regardless of where the product is made. If the majority of Chinese companies would concern themselves with the "big picture," namely consumer satisfaction, instead of just wanting to make a quick mao, I would buy Chinese. However, personal experience has taught me otherwise.
DaBen:
I can verify the different quality lines. I've been to many companies that stockpile rejected and/or returned units (they may or may not rework the defect or reason for rejection) and then sell them to the local/Asian/African market. And if they are actually producing the product for the local market, they don't waste the man-hours to have QC inspectors or line leaders overseeing critical processes or to train any new line worker properly before putting him on the line.
Shame isn't the right word. They know the products are cheap and bad quality, and run a chance to being fake. It's more of a general acceptance of just how it is. But many do have great pride when being able to show off that they have/ can buy the expensive foreign products.
Oh, I just remembered - I've actually seen pride in some faces, that they can do these Nike, or Adidas or whatever... knowing it's a knock-off!
hey dude, i wonder if i confess it's a shame , will it have a bad effect on the Chinese policy of boosting demestic demand ? After musing for a while, i decide not to do it, coz i am a Chinese.
It is a little enbarising that when I take Australian trinckets to China for friends and family im only repating them because there all made in China.
We have a joke in our house that everything in it is made in China including my wife.
Kids were made in Australia but packaged in China.
It all comes down to economics. China certainly has the ability to produce high quality products. As mentioned, many many products in the West are made in China and meet western standards. But it costs money to make quality products! The average Chinese citizen cannot afford such quality. The same factories that make western standard brands also make the cheaper, low quality products for the domestic market.
Clothing is a prime example. I have rarely bought any clothes from a Chinese shop that I was satisfied with. I call them disposable wear. But the price is commensurate with the quality, so I have little to complain about. If you want the cheap price, you have to forego the quality control and accept cheaper materials. We cannot break the rules of economics.
not at all........they take in positive manner.chinese people can do, which others cant do.
Ahh
a time of quality trivia posts that ment something.
Hotwater:
Have you gone over to the other side? Necro-posting to push things off the front page! 
philbravery:
Nah i still have a few tricks up my sleeve.. And I don't back down easy i just get a bigger Bat
