We heard about this a lot either in mainstream media or on the alternative media like the internet.

My question is does all made in china products no good or substandard. In Malaysia there many reputable China companies are supplying good products to the industry but why in the U.S. the people are complaining. I think not all made in China products are substandard. Products like medicine and food, I without doubt the authority need to check the quality based on the recent reports.

Let's ponder on this findings;

Tanya Williams hates to buy Chinese-manufactured goods.

But like many American parents, she believes she has little choice.

“It's very hard to find American-made,” Williams, 36, of Aspinwall, said as she walked out of the Wal-Mart at Waterworks Mall with her three children. “You don't know whether it's lead-free. I've been looking at the labels, but they don't say.”

Williams' concerns are common and legitimate, consumer advocacy analysts said, particularly as global backlash mounts against China due to a surge of recalled, potentially toxic exports.

In recent months, high levels of chemicals and toxins were found in a range of Chinese exports, including toothpaste, seafood, pet food ingredients and toys. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission this week recalled four more toy products made in China, including SpongeBob SquarePants address books and journals, spinning tops and charm bracelets. All might contain hazardous levels of lead.

The recalls have many Americans questioning goods stamped “Made in China,” said Rachel Weintraub, director of product safety at Consumer Federation of America.

Earlier this year, Swiss ingredient maker DSM Nutritional Products launched a “premium” Vitamin C. The marketing gambit: It comes from tidy Scotland instead of sprawling China, which provides 80% of the world's supply. But it was a tough sell. “We were struggling to get the price we thought was justified by the quality,” says communications chief Alex Filz.

No more. Not after contaminated products from China ended up on supermarket shelves. Suddenly, “Not Made in China” has become a major selling point. DSM's Quali-C brand is flying out of its Scottish factory at more than double the price for bulk Vitamin C. “It's a tremendous business opportunity for us,” says Filz (see BusinessWeek.com, 7/13/07, “China: Due for a Reality Check?“).

It is reported also that China is the main source of risky products in Europe and toys are the item most commonly found to pose a risk to consumers. More than half of all dangerous products detected last year by EU authorities originated in China, with notifications for some 700 goods, according to the European Union's executive arm.

With 80 percent of all toys sold in the EU made in China, toys were the product most often found to pose a serious risk, the commission said in an annual report on its so-called RAPEX system for detecting risky goods.

The commission put the poor safety record of Chinese goods down to the sheer number of imports from the country and the fact that European authorities have ramped up monitoring after waves of recalls of Chinese-made toys last year.

But I found this interesting video “Made-in-China” by James Fallows's related story in the July/August 2007 via his website theAtlantic.com and James said “A look inside the world’s manufacturing center shows that America should welcome China’s rise—for now”.

There are people who are making an experiment themselves like Sara Bongiorni and her family attempted to live without goods made in China for a year, and found that it was no simple task. She has documented the project in a book called, A Year Without “Made in China”: One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy

Bongiorni said, “I wanted our story to be a friendly, nonjudgmental look at the ways ordinary people are connected to the global economy.” In the foreword, written by economist Joel Naroff, it's said that 15 percent of the $1.7 trillion spent on imported goods the US imported in 2006 came from China. (What an awesome stats!).

View this video & the show: Visit the home of Sara Bongiorni, author of “A Year Without Made in China”

So to give a fair judgment to all made in china products, we need to study case by case. Not all products from China are substandard. But we as the consumers has the power to decide. To all made in China manufacturers my message is

“Do buck up and produce quality products or be prepared to be shipped out from any countries world wide”.

Majalah IM - Malaysian Internet Marketer's Magazine
Happy Earth Day

Discussion

  • Commenter's Avatar
    Tom — April 20, 2008 at 11:57 am

    What’s wrong with Chinese products? Well, I think that products are a little substandard. There is a price we have to pay for low prices and that is quality. If the Chinese government shows they are concerned about the concerns of their customers (ie. foreign governments) by setting up an agency to uphold standards of safety and quality, I’ll gladly buy Chinese.

  • Commenter's Avatar
    roslimh — April 22, 2008 at 4:19 am

    Hi Tom,

    I presumed not all Chinese products are substandard but their main problems are too many productions but no control in quality on certain products like food, medication, toys or consumer products.

    They claimed they have ISO9000/1/2 certifications but the quality in general are still questionable.

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