December 8th, 2009 
admin Two years ago, he bought a Chinese-brand LCD TV for 12,000 yuan ($1,758) in favor of Japanese and Korean ones, which he said were priced significantly higher.
“I don’t think Japanese or Korean ones are four times better than Chinese ones, as shown on the price tag. My made-in-China TV works quite well,” he said.
One of the latest Hollywood blockbusters, titled 2012, has “for the first time … cast the Chinese as good guys,” the Christian Science Monitor commented on its website last week, noting the movie’s depiction of China-made arks saving humanity from an end-of-days catastrophe.
Chen Hao, whose family-run factory in Zhejiang Province is a supplier of plastic pipelines and sofa rollers to Ikea, said the stereotype born by many foreigners that made-in-China products are of low quality should be eliminated, as China has good-quality brands such as Haier on the world markets.
“Chinese products deliver good value and good quality as well,” he said. “Otherwise they wouldn’t have survived, sustained and sold well all over the world for more than two decades.”
Song Shengxia and Liang Chen contributed to this story
A model wears fashion from the Vivienne Tam spring 2010 collection, as part of fashion week in New York on September 12. (CFP Photo)
The government has launched its first-ever global ad campaign to convey the message that Chinese-made commodities are the result of joint work between China and the world, which is enjoying better-quality products that benefit everyone.
Though they are taking different stances on the ad’s potential effect, analysts have generally applauded the government’s move to eliminate the stigma that “Made in China” often carries, particularly in light of recent claims of trade protectionism.
The 30-second ad, themed “Made in China. Made with the world,” was rolled out last week on CNN in the United States, CNN in Asia and CNN Headline News.
The ad depicts a series of Chinese-made products, designed by or containing shared technology with other countries, and highlights their quality.
For instance, it features morning-exercise sneakers that are “Made in China with American sports technology,” an iPod-like MP3 player labeled “Made in China with technology from Silicon Valley,” and a model wearing fancy outfits that bears the label “Made in China with French designers.”
“We started producing the commercial mid-last year and deployed the most talented foreign designers to create it,” Zheng Rick, a staff member with the DBB Guoan ad agency, producer of the ad, told the Global Times without elaborating.
The ad, commissioned by the Ministry of Commerce and a number of trade bodies, was postponed after the tainted-milk scandal in August, according to media.asia, a website that tracks the marketing industry in the Asia Pacific region.
“The commercial is based on the concept of cooperation and participation, trying to convey the message that China joins hands with the world to produce high-quality products for consumers,” the ministry told the Global Times in a faxed statement.
“‘Made in China’ is actually equivalent to ‘Made in the World,’” it said. “It benefits both China and the world through cooperation.”
Chinese analysts welcomed the ad campaign, saying it is good for the government to take the initiative to promote the image of Chinese-made merchandise.
Zhou Shijian, a former trade official for China, said it could be beneficial for China to pol-ish and reinforce the reputation of “Made in China” products.
Yu Guoming, associate dean of the School of Journalism at Renmin University of China, pointed out that the government is trying to persuade the world not to bar conspicuous Chinese commodities.
China made this move apparently on the backdrop of the US and EU becoming increas-ingly wary about the Chinese products taking over their domestic markets, and the two governments have been putting up trade barriers in the name of anti-dumping investigations, Yu said on Phoenix TV Monday.
While suggesting that the government consider improving the style and direct ap-proach of the ad, the analysts said China also needs to improve its technology, so that it won’t only be a producer for foreign designers.
‘Made in China’ fears
As China-made goods flood the world, the saturation has sparked reports in other countries of worries about jobs being taken and quality concerns.
Claims such as a 2007 Associated Press story headlined “Is ‘Made in China’ avoidable?” are common in the United States. The story noted that US shoppers were trying to fill their shopping carts with products free of ingredients from China, but “The trouble is, that may be almost impossible.”
Andrea Gomez, an American in Beijing, said that she is likely to associate Chinese products with bad quality.
“A lot of toys and some electronic products made in China are of poor quality,” she said.
However, John Johnson, an English teacher in Beijing said “Chinese products do not necessarily mean poor quality.”
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