Economy
'Made in China' ad campaign wins applause
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-12-05 19:45
BEIJING: A 30-second TV commercial remains a hot topic in China nearly two weeks after four Chinese industry associations launched a "Made in China" ad campaign on the CNN news network.
The ad, currently airing on the International, US and Headline News channels of the CNN, highlights international involvement in producing high-quality Chinese goods.
It features an MP3 "Made in China with software from Silicon Valley" and clothes "Made in China with French designers," among others.
The TV commercial was designed to tell overseas consumers that Chinese companies work with overseas firms to produce quality products, the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Light Industrial Products and Arts-Crafts, one of the ad makers, said in a statement.
The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) has said it was supportive of the ad campaign.
"The global setting and international elements in the ad provide a new angle for the world to reflect on their stereotyped assumptions about Chinese products," said Zhao Yumin, a researcher with the MOC.
Such an ad campaign in international media is rare in China, and it highlights the efforts in image building, said Zhang Yansheng, a researcher with the National Development and Reform Commission.
While benefitting from China's quality and affordable products, some foreign people and media often pointed their fingers at Chinese products when under pressure of unemployment and shrinking market share.
The misreading was intensified by the international financial crisis, and Chinese products were facing more protectionism.
Zhao Jinping, a researcher with the Development Research Center of the State Council, said most of China's exported products were the fruits of cooperation between Chinese and foreign firms.
More than half of China's manufacturing exports were made by foreign funded enterprises, and for high-tech products and electronic products the proportions were 83 percent and 75 percent respectively.
Ninety percent of the high-tech products exported to the United States were made by foreign enterprises, "so China's trade surplus with the United States can be interpreted as the world's surplus," said Zhang Yansheng.
Meanwhile, more than half of China's manufacturing exports were done in processing trade, which means China has to import raw materials, accessories and machines to make the products.
"I think it will be great for foreigners living in the West to learn more about what goes into China products," Nickolas Topjian, an American doing business in Beijing, said after watching the ad.
