Wang Zhongiu, the president of the China Enterprise Confederation (a kind of Chinese Confederation of Industry), declared yesterday, at a conference in Beijing, that the lack of credibility of Chinese products costs about 600 billion yuan a year (92 billion dollars). The data, already communicated last May by the Ministry of Commerce, underline the lack of appeal of Chinese products, which are often seen as copies of inferior quality compared to Western products.
Emerging countries always encounter phases and cycles of this type: before the war, Japanese watches were sold in Europe by the kilo. But over time Japan has jumped many rungs in the quality ladder and today is seen as a paradigm of excellence. The same thing could happen in China, especially in these times of globalization, when the transfer of manufacturing and managerial technologies is much faster than before.
More worrying is the fact, as pointed out by Wang Zhongui, of business ethics. Still with regard to credibility, the aforementioned Ministry estimates that of the many billions of contracts signed each year by Chinese companies, only half are honoured.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-07/17/content_12919287.html
http://business.globaltimes.cn/comment/2011-05/651724.html
