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This article struck me as rather superficial. Though quality fade and IP are big problems, I fail to see how the problems are different from early Japanese or A

by jbrun 17y ago

This article struck me as rather superficial. Though quality fade and IP are big problems, I fail to see how the problems are different from early Japanese or American industry. Having lived in China for a year (Beijing and elsewhere), I can state two things: They are getting better, very quickly and they are starting to clamp down on environmental, health and compensation issues. It takes time, China started to really develop in the mid 90s, so it has only been 15 years or so. It takes time to develop environmental, health, workers compensation and IP regulations. Even once you have the regulations in place, it takes years to make the business community aware and respectful of them. Many (if not most) of the factory bosses are former peasants or lower class people who have little to no education. They are just trying to build a small company. That does not excuse the gross abuses of power, but it does explain them. There needs to be a certain "societal" education on these issues, it took a hundred years in the west, and the environmental (sustainability) mouvement, started in the 1950s is only mainstream since 2006ish. Oh and don't forget, China is 3 times bigger than the US and 10 times bigger than Japan. See this other NYT article from 2005 on the topic: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E2DD1239F93AA35752C0A9639C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C03E2DD1239F...

Chocobean 17y ago
actually I thought the article did a good job not China-bashing. It merely points out the problems nowadays, but it isn't saying that China can't change, or isn't changing. Just, if you are, this moment, ready to hire a Chinese plant to do your manufacturing, this is what you have to be careful of. A year later, who knows. In terms of "high notes" in technological strengths and quality, China has long ago passed US and Japan. Just that no investor is paying for the best, so, things that aren't the best are shipped.
megaduck 17y ago
Many good points, but I have a few quibbles. While I agree that things are getting better, I'm increasingly mistrustful of the "progress" being made on the regulatory front. There's a lot of new rules on the books, but I don't see a lot of real change occurring. Good regulation requires independent monitoring and enforcement, and right now there's neither. The majority of large businesses have at least some level of government involvement and control, and many are outright state-owned. Moreover, the level of corruption is pretty staggering, to the point where being a government official is currently the best (and often the only) path to real wealth and power. Quality control and product safety are remarkably difficult in that kind of environment. Hopefully you're right, and solving these things will just take time. However, I don't think we have the option of sanguinely standing by and waiting for things to get better. Consumers and business clients need to demand better quality, the Chinese public needs to demand a more transparent and honest government, and those demands have to be made constantly and consistently. That's the only way change is going to happen.

by jbrun 17y ago

Chocobean 17y ago

actually I thought the article did a good job not China-bashing. It merely points out the problems nowadays, but it isn't saying that China can't change, or isn't changing. Just, if you are, this moment, ready to hire a Chinese plant to do your manufacturing, this is what you have to be careful of. A year later, who knows. In terms of "high notes" in technological strengths and quality, China has long ago passed US and Japan. Just that no investor is paying for the best, so, things that aren't the best are shipped.

megaduck 17y ago

Many good points, but I have a few quibbles. While I agree that things are getting better, I'm increasingly mistrustful of the "progress" being made on the regulatory front. There's a lot of new rules on the books, but I don't see a lot of real change occurring. Good regulation requires independent monitoring and enforcement, and right now there's neither. The majority of large businesses have at least some level of government involvement and control, and many are outright state-owned. Moreover, the level of corruption is pretty staggering, to the point where being a government official is currently the best (and often the only) path to real wealth and power. Quality control and product safety are remarkably difficult in that kind of environment. Hopefully you're right, and solving these things will just take time. However, I don't think we have the option of sanguinely standing by and waiting for things to get better. Consumers and business clients need to demand better quality, the Chinese public needs to demand a more transparent and honest government, and those demands have to be made constantly and consistently. That's the only way change is going to happen.