Thursday, September 27, 2007

Made in China

“Brand China” suffered one setback after another in the recent months as goods made in the Middle Kingdom, from toys to tires to pet food, were found to be unsafe to use. Chinese officers denied that goods made in their country had poor quality, and instead blamed protectionism for the product recalls.


(Update: Mattel has admitted that its product recalls were mostly due to flawed design rather than shoddy manufacturing.)


I was browsing the Hong Kong’s photography forum, http://www.dchome.net/ the other day and happened to come across some interesting posts.

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nokia2110 wrote:

依家香港買野,真的會平過祖國?
我有個同事係上海買到40D 8250!行貨連帶發票!香港又無貨又貴,最平都要8800!什麼天堂講笑!

Is it really cheaper to buy thing in Hong Kong than in China today?

A co-worker of mine bought a (Canon) 40D for 8250 Yuan in Shanghai! White market good plus receipt! Hong Kong is out of stock and it costs more here. The cheapest costs $8800! What haven, kidding!


me_domchan wrote:

袓國同胞寧可黎香港買都唔係大陸買

But our fellows in Mainland prefer to shop in Hong Kong.


edwardwong wrote:

香港貴少少都未必係問題
不如你問下點解咁多自由行人士係 HK 買奶粉化妝品??唔通內地無??再平 D 都有,爭在你敢唔敢用之嘛

The fact that thing is slightly more expensive in Hong Kong may not be a problem.

Why do so many independent travelers buy milk powder and cosmetics in Hong Kong?? Not sold in Mainland?? You can get them at lower price. The question is whether you have the gut to use them.


MikeLau wrote:

No problem! You go back to China to buy a camera.
It's free market and one should have the right to spend his money wherever he wants.
I will do that too if I happen to be in China with something of good price!
But.....
1. I will not consider buying food (eg. mooncakes, milkpowder) in China (guess the reason);
2. I will not consider buying electronic gadgets in China (eg. cameras) at this moment; probably will do so when there is more complete and fair laws enforcing customers' rights when some arguments arise.


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It has been more than 10 years since Hong Kong was reverted to China. One would expect the Hong Kongers to be patriotic to the Middle Kingdom. Yet, from the posts we have just read, it is clear that they haven't got confidence in things made in China. Brand China still has a long way to go before it can be trusted worldwide.



Related post:

Made in Japan



4 comments:

  1. its very common that people still have some thoughts on brand made in China. But I believe it will be improved in years to come.

    ReplyDelete
  2. kai,
    Yes, it will improve over time. But sadly it is a result of international interest, rather than pressure from the consumers within its boundary.

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  3. Not all products are questionable, of course. MNCs have a quality standard to maintain so products from MNCs are naturally safe to buy.

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  4. Well, Mattel is an MNC, but many of its products are not safe.

    Of course, most of its unsafe products are due to flawed design, for which its own R&D team has to be blamed. The remaining of its recalled products had toxic paint, and in this case both Mattel and its contractors in China are responsible.

    ReplyDelete