I am Chinese. When I was a child and teenager, imported goods meant “expensive but unbelievably high-quality.”
Domestic products were either nonexistent—like televisions or refrigerators, which were considered luxury items—or of very poor quality.
“Made in Shanghai” was perhaps the only exception. Back then, when young people got married, being able to buy a Shanghai bicycle or a sewing machine was a big deal—it was an important family asset.
When I was in my twenties, owning a Japanese appliance at home was still something to boast about. I’m not sure when it happened, but this situation completely changed. More and more domestic products entered people’s homes, and their quality was not inferior at all.
I recently replaced an old floor-standing air conditioner, and that’s when I realized—it had been running for 21 years before breaking down. （It’s not really broken, at least not to me, but my wife complains that the heating and cooling aren’t as good as they used to be.）
I think that’s pretty impressive. Even better, the manufacturer offered a recycling rebate of 780 yuan, meaning I paid 780 yuan less for the new one. Probably because the compressor contains copper—and China is relatively short of copper.
For reference, the new air conditioner cost 4,399 yuan, discounted to 3,519 yuan, and after deducting the 780-yuan rebate, I actually paid 2,379 yuan—about 385 US dollars.
I also replaced the refrigerator. It was still fairly new, but I hadn’t noticed when buying it that it was a bit small. The rebate for that one was only 90 yuan though.
To my left right now is an industrial fan that has been running continuously for a year. I smoke in my study, so I leave it on to blow the smoke out the window. It’s been running steadily for a whole year.
I looked at the brand—it’s called “Double Red Happiness” (红双喜), a name filled with Chinese cultural flavor and a common symbol at weddings.
Nothing fancy, just ordinary. I realize I could easily live entirely on Made in China products—and still enjoy a pretty comfortable life.
Winter has arrived, and I bought several new down jackets for just over 100 yuan each—barely more than ten US dollars—and they’re warm and well-made. Shoes costing around 300 yuan are already excellent. Socks? You can get 100 pairs for 50 yuan.
Oh, I almost forgot—next to the fan is an electric kettle. Chinese people love these. They put in all sorts of herbs and plants—jujubes, rose petals, traditional medicinal ingredients—and let them simmer all day long, believing the drink is good for health. This one cost less than 100 yuan too. It’s been running 24 hours a day for a year, never broken once.
“Made in China” has not only made the Chinese people happy—it’s made people all over the world happy.
I remember when a large television used to cost tens of thousands of yuan. After China mastered large LCD screens, the price dropped to around 1,000 yuan. I even saw TVs for 100 yuan on Taobao—of course, smaller ones.
And then there are solar panels. Used panels are dismantled and sold at very low prices to Africa. (Solar panels lose a few percent of efficiency every year, so some people replace them every five or ten years. They still work, but sell for much less.)
Isn’t that wonderful? I saw a documentary where someone in an extremely arid part of Africa used such panels to power an electric water pump, providing clean water for people within a radius of more than ten kilometers.
Maybe I’ve gone a bit off-topic—but why can China do this?
I think, first, because China values education—especially STEM education—and produces a huge number of engineers.
Second, because it invests heavily in infrastructure—particularly electricity. China’s industrial electricity consumption is six times that of the United States. The same goes for reservoirs, roads, and other infrastructure—the scale of investment is enormous. The country has 86,000 reservoirs. That alone is a miracle.
// A friend of mine read what I wrote and was quite dissatisfied. He said the whole point could be summed up in one sentence:
“China also practices capitalist free competition, but capitalism is a means — a tool to serve the people; in the Western world, it’s the other way around — the people are tools of capitalism, and capital is the end, not the means.”
So I added his comment.
