CHINA GOOD ? CHINA BAD?

‘CHINA GOOD ? CHINA BAD?’
My ten-year old’s voice got my attention while shopping for fruits at a local grocery store.
"Mom, are they making apples too"?

She was looking at an apple stand labeled as ‘China Apple‘.

Immediately, I responded ‘No…Not… I think ... Maybe...I think you should Google it!’ That was my final response. My daughter, half-satisfied with my answer, went to her ultimate interest… chocolates.

Maybe the fruit was not produced in China, only the fertilizer was ,but it is overwhelming how China has taken over the world’s consumers.
Countries, like Pakistan and India, were not in the habit of compulsive buying only a decade ago but thanks to China, that has changed. Now we can buy Christmas ornaments in the smallest town and without realizing the need or purpose. Gift shops are filled with Easter, Halloween, and Valentines Day goodies. We are buying it too.
North American consumerism has reached us through China.
Discarded, low-quality products are unacceptable in developed countries, so they are going to go somewhere and they have reached our market. Be it fake Barbie stickers low quality generators, or cell phones ,they are all made in China.

Once I wanted to give my visiting friend something from here , a reminder of this region and home for her. To my amazement, all the carved wood religious plaques were made in China as well, even a prayer rug!

We used to be fearful that robots would take the place of manpower or that computers would replace people in the job market. Nobody expected that a giant nation like China would take everybody’s work in their robotic way.

For countries which have no industry to protect , like the United Arab Emirates, or the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it is all right for them to import left and right. But with Pakistan we should watch what we are getting and at what cost. When we bring lots of cheap stuff here, we destroy our local producers, hurt our consumers, and the economy in the end.

I have no objection to China capturing the world market. One thing that confuses me is what does that really mean.
In the United States, when one buys a ‘Made-in-China’ product, the salesman will tell you, "It is all made in China now, so do not worry. It is as good as the other product by another producer". Maybe there are no other producers at all.

Once you are on this side of the world, you will find everything is made in China again.
But the problem is the sales man will refer to it as "buy it at your own risk , it is made in China". The usual concept of buying ‘Made-in-China’ item in Pakistan is that may be you are spending little less money now but will have to replace the item sooner than you want to (low quality) and without a warranty .

Our power of purchase is definitely less than any rich country but quality is compromised due to lack of implementation of quality control laws on imports and customs. Usually mushroom business bring containers of goods at scrap prices, and Customs does not do a thing to check whether the products inside the containers are safe, good quality, or required by the Pakistani consumer. They get their share and these items get into our markets. We get low-quality items which were originally designed for a developed country.

We adopt, we adjust to what we are being offered. And there are no consumer rights which the State is supposed to protect, no recalls reach our land , and we bear the sour fruit of Globalization.