Originally Posted By: c502cid
So many of you are talking out your a55 when it comes to China. I sell US manufactured products in China. I travel there 3-4 times a year, for 2-4 weeks each trip. Now what I sell them is not even a thimble in the overall balance of trade (between $1M-$2M a year), but I can tell you this.
Chinese people LOVE American made products. To them, USA means quality. Yes we get knocked off, but the Chinese consumer doesn't want to buy the knockoff, only stupid Americans do that. They will pay more for the real deal. You take every American company that you know of, every store you see in your local mall, they are ALL doing business in China because the Chinese middle class is poised to explode. Want Papa Johns pizza? Need to find a 7-11? Apple store? All there.
The Chinese people are rebelling against their pollution and unsafe food practices in a big big way. It's going to change without our help.
Yes there is graft in China but the latest administration (in China) is going after that. They are going after intellectual property claims in a big way. How do I know this? Yes, the are helping me and the company I work for. It's not a whole lot different then the US politicians giving a foreign factory $$$$ in tax credits, then getting the giant campaign contribution (and another contract deal)in return. It truly isnt that much different from doing business here. And you know what? I get knocked off doing business in the US too. Good products spawn imitators.
Lastly, the Chinese people are warm and welcoming to Americans. When I travel alone there are scores of people who go out of their way to help me, sometimes whether I want it or not lol.
Yes, it's a different world out there. Their habits and customs are polar opposites then ours at times, but slamming them for just being Chinese is stupid. And I was one of those people once too, I just am fortunate to get to see the real China. I've seen factories with dirt floors and I've seen high tech that puts other places I've traveled to shame.
To bash them for being Chinese is ignorant. Our own backyard, and buying habits have just as many warts. It's a global economy whether you like it or not. You want to blame someone for the Chinese selling sheet products here, blame the greedy corporate boardrooms in this world as they line their pockets, and blame your fellow consumers for buying on price alone.
Rant off....
Well said. It's a global economy. You have your choice in what you buy, so do your fellow consumers, so do Chinese consumers.
And China is doing a remarkable job modernizing it's country. And I suspect they are going to do a better job of tackling the environmental problems that come along with that.
They don't have people who deny the problem nor corporations that have so much power they shape regulations and get away with poor practices.