Chinese Online Class - Rethinking the 'Made in China' label

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BIZCHINA / Weekly Roundup

Rethinking the 'Made in China' label

By Li Xing (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-07-19 14:48

I haven't been able to get my hands on a copy of Sara Bongiorni's A Year
Without "Made in China", though I have been anxious to write something
about the book since it was released in June.

The book's title initially made me a little wary of the author's
intentions. But I also knew I shouldn't make hasty judgments without
reading it first.

Her commentaries, which are now readily available on the Internet, show
that she is as objective as she can be.

"There's no way you can live anywhere near a normal life without buying
things from China," Bongiorni keeps saying.

However, she only scratches the surface, looking at the "Made in China"
labels from an American family's perspective.

As a Chinese, I've also experienced changes in my attitude toward the
"Made in China" label. About 25 years ago, "Made in China" excited me and
my pals, when we were still the first batch of Chinese mainland
journalism students studying in the US.

Later, when I traveled overseas, I tried to avoid things that were "Made
in China" when I shopped for gifts. There was no sense in me going all
the way across the oceans or the Eurasian continent just to bring back
keepsakes that I might spot at home.

However, this became so troublesome that I gave up looking a few years
ago.

In fact, we are crystal clear in our understanding that "Made in China"
means only Chinese hard labor.

"The patent, the designs, the business people are all from overseas," one
netizen writes when commenting on an article about Bongiorni's book.

Except for the Chinese workers who made and attached "Made in China"
labels to the products (for which they were paid pitifully little), very
few Chinese actually see these products in China, other netizens pointed
out.

What Chinese manufacturers and consumers should work on and advocate are
truly Chinese brands and truly quality products patented, designed and
created by Chinese.

Simon Anholt of the United Kingdom, compiles a national brands index to
evaluate "the power and appeal of a nation's brand image" and shows "how
the people around the world see the character of that brand".

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)

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