Behind China’s overseas shopping boom lies a candid acknowledgment by the Chinese government—outside the political sphere—of its own contradictions.
Weak brand power, counterfeit goods, and a lack of trust continue to undermine domestic consumption.

2016-02-03

The following article appeared in the January 31 issue of the Nikkei.

As the Lunar New Year holiday approaches, Japan’s tourism industry is buoyed by expectations of Chinese “explosive buying.”
In contrast, Chinese government officials appear uneasy, as a portion of consumption that should support the domestic economy is flowing overseas.

Chinese authorities are urging consumers to bring spending back home, but success remains uncertain.
A vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology stated that the biggest difference between foreign and domestic products lies in brand recognition and influence.
As evidence, he cited a survey showing little difference in taste between rice cooked in Japanese and Chinese rice cookers.

He also acknowledged that consumers trust products from advanced countries because they contain fewer counterfeits.
This frank admission highlights China’s lack of credibility as a key driver of overseas consumption.

Online commerce, which has grown rapidly, is also plagued by counterfeit goods.
A parliamentary report revealed that only 58.7 percent of products sold online were both genuine and of acceptable quality.

Under such conditions, it is unrealistic to expect consumers to shop domestically with confidence.
Even emerging Chinese brands suffer from widespread imitation.

To address this, the government has attempted to lower tariffs on popular foreign goods and improve domestic brands.
However, tangible results remain elusive.

Excluding the political sphere, the Chinese government has shown surprising candor in acknowledging its internal contradictions.
Problems such as overcapacity, environmental degradation, and food contamination are openly recognized, yet they are deeply rooted and difficult to resolve.
These contradictions remain a major obstacle to China’s transition toward stable growth.