What is the largest fake manufacturing city in the country?

The US CBS criticized Yiwu, Zhejiang, as "the world's largest fake market" [Forward to a friend] The "fake goods" scandal in Yiwu was criticized by the US CBS as "the world's largest fake market" on November 30, 2004 "How should Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, face the "fake goods" crisis? How will China face a new round of international public opinion about China's massive export of fake goods? In August 2004, CBS's "60 Minutes" column produced a TV spot called "The World's Largest Counterfeit Market", reporting on the small commodity wholesale market in Yiwu, Zhejiang, China. In the film, the owner of a sports shoe company boasts in front of the camera that the latest Nike sneakers can be cloned in large quantities in four days after they arrive, at only $4 per pair. The TV reporter also discovered that Callawry golf clubs costing $3,000 can be purchased here for $275. CBS said that during interviews, they found that law enforcement officials have a close relationship with counterfeiters, and the crackdown is like a cat-and-mouse game. The report quoted Professor Daniel Chow of Ohio University, who has long studied intellectual property infringement issues, as saying: "Local professionals told him that 90% of Yiwu's small commodity wholesale market is fake. But the wholesale market is invested by the local industrial and commercial department and is also the mainstay of the local economy. , directly affects the local taxation and the management fee income of the industrial and commercial bureau, and some government officials even have shares. "A few days ago, Chen Rulin, director of the Industrial and Commercial Branch of Yiwu China Commodity City, said in an interview with Phoenix Weekly that the report had a negative impact on Yiwu Small Commodity Market. The description was untrue and he was outraged by the description of law enforcement officers in the US report. Are there any fakes in Yiwu? In Yiwu International Trade City Futian Market, China Commodity City and Clothing, Non-staple Food Commodity City, there are approximately tens of thousands of shops in total. A few days ago, reporters went to Yiwu for on-the-spot interviews and conducted random unannounced visits to many shops. No counterfeit products of Nike, Adidas and other famous brands were found for sale. The words of a toy store owner are quite representative: "Five or six years ago, there were a lot of fakes in Yiwu, but now you can't survive by selling fakes. Those who do well generally have their own factories to produce them." It has its own brand of products. "It is said that Yiwu has stepped up its efforts to combat counterfeiting in recent years, and almost all locals know the counterfeit reporting hotline. Since the bounty for local reports is higher than that in surrounding areas, some counterfeit products are often reported by whistleblowers when they transit Yiwu during transportation. Chen Rulin, director of the Industrial and Commercial Branch of Yiwu China Commodity City, said that in the past, counterfeiting and infringement were more likely to occur in clothing and leather bags, but now they are almost extinct in the regular market. What is more difficult to crack down on is the underground market, which is quite hidden and difficult to detect. The general situation is that someone brings a foreign brand product and asks the shop owner for "OEM processing", which is also called "sample processing". A local media staff member pointed out that in fact, currently, the small commodities in Yiwu's regular market are rarely "fake", "counterfeit" or "counterfeit" that infringe on intellectual property rights, and a large number of them are "inferior", that is, cheap goods. . You get what you pay for. The magic weapon for Yiwu market to win in the national and even global small commodity markets is "cheapness". Weak awareness of crisis public relations It is worth noting that in the face of negative news, local governments have exposed their weak awareness of "crisis public relations". CBS "60 Minutes" is a pioneer in investigative television reporting in the United States. It is the only one-hour news program that is regularly broadcast in the United States. It is broadcast once a week on 349 television stations in the United States. It has extensive social influence and is known as Known as the "flagship" of public affairs programs. It is conceivable that its report of "the world's largest counterfeit goods market" will have a huge and long-lasting negative impact on China's (including Yiwu's) overseas image and overseas markets. However, apart from sitting in their offices and accusing the program of being inaccurate and completely false, local officials in Yiwu took almost no positive action to remedy the situation. When a reporter asked, "If the other party's report is false, why doesn't the government resort to legal action?" A publicity official's answer was actually: "They are far away in the United States and don't know their address. How can we negotiate?" So there was this situation: On the one hand, Yiwu has spent a lot of money on advertising its image in domestic media and is preparing to further advertise it in overseas media; on the other hand, it is helpless to deal with foreign "false reports" that damage the image of Yiwu and even China as a whole.

During this period, according to a report by CBS, a newspaper affiliated with a major domestic newspaper also published a relevant report titled "US Customs Says 60% of Counterfeit Products Come from China, Yiwu Market Exposed to the West." Afterwards, after negotiations with the Yiwu government, the newspaper apologized; a portal that reprinted the article was also asked to take down the article. Even so, the CBS "60 Minutes" report still had a wide impact in the country. Based on the main content of the report, a netizen wrote the article "Yiwu Model Is the Shame of the System" and believed that "The shame of the Yiwu Model is that it is It's a shame for the system; it's a shame for the Chinese people not to change this system." This caused a lasting debate on the forum. In fact, there have been a lot of negative news about Yiwu in recent years, and the content is almost concentrated on the "fake goods market" and the local "enclosure frenzy". Some of them are basically true, and some are inaccurate. In the face of these negative reports, apart from passive negotiation, the public relations response capabilities of relevant departments appear lackluster. In this regard, an employee of a public relations company in Shanghai analyzed: "Just like no one is perfect, a local government cannot always have negative news. But in the face of negative reports, local governments often appear to be low-key, rigid and flexible. Not enough, let alone crisis public relations. "How far can the "Yiwu model" go? The Small Commodity Expo hosted by Yiwu last year attracted more than 10,000 foreign businessmen from 126 countries and regions, and was highly regarded by relevant national ministries and commissions such as the Ministry of Commerce. affim. It has developed from a small county in the mountainous area of ??central Zhejiang to a prosperous commercial city; from a rural market to a small commodity circulation center and display center that integrates product display, agency wholesale, factory direct sales, and e-commerce. Yiwu does have its successes. In 2003, the Yiwu market's turnover reached 28.73 billion yuan, of which China Commodity City's turnover was 24.83 billion yuan, ranking first among the country's major professional markets for 13 consecutive years. Usually, the Yiwu model is summed up as: a large, efficient, complex structural market and large-scale industrial division of labor and cooperation based on this market. In this regard, Wang Zuqiang, associate professor of the Party School of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee, also wrote an article pointing out that the distinctive features of the Yiwu model are: starting from the "chicken feathers for sugar", using the market's first-mover advantage and agglomeration function to develop a business and trade industry based on the circulation of small commodities, and continuously accumulating Capital, expand business scale, promote the expansion of commercial capital into manufacturing and urban infrastructure construction and other fields, and realize the coordinated development of market, industry and city. But in recent years, concerns about "how far the Yiwu model can go" have begun to appear frequently in the press. According to a report from a business newspaper in Beijing, Yiwu's "profits in the entire market have been spread very thin and can only be supported by a certain order of magnitude. With the swarm of clones of Yiwu's model in various places, we can almost certainly define Wujiang. Facing the critical moment of life and death: first, the price of the commodity itself is close to the bottom line; second, as the market becomes increasingly crowded, the cost of economic activities for merchants is rising, and the marginal benefit is showing a downward trend. "Wang Zuqiang's suggestion is: "Domestic and foreign. The new economic development trend shows that if Yiwu's small commodity market only has the advantage of low cost, it will be difficult to maintain its leading advantage in the fierce market competition. Therefore, Yiwu's various advantages must be organically combined to surpass the radiation and agglomeration effects of the small commodity market. , forming a comprehensive Yiwu model in the new era. "Warning from overseas markets" According to a report by CBS "60 Minutes Magazine", Professor Daniel Chow of Ohio University believes that if the factor of re-export trade is taken into account, 80% of the products will be intercepted by US customs. Counterfeit and shoddy products all come from China. According to U.S. Customs data, 66% of the counterfeit products seized at U.S. ports in 2003 were from China, far higher than the 5% from Hong Kong and China, which ranked second. Mexico ranked third with 4%. In the first quarter of this year, China still accounted for 58% of counterfeit products seized at various ports in the United States, far higher than South Africa's 7%, Russia's 6% and Hong Kong's 3%." According to reports. , the entry of Chinese counterfeit goods into the United States has become a hot topic, and American television stations and newspapers often comment on and report on this. A woman said in a telephone discussion: "I used to think that the government was trying to divert our attention and have other intentions towards China. Later, I really discovered that more and more famous brand leather goods are appearing on the streets." Since China will no longer If the import and export of domestic companies is further restricted, many Americans are worried that there will be more counterfeit and shoddy products, and therefore hope that China will intensify its crackdown.

Regardless of the authenticity and accuracy of the report, the direction of Western public opinion is quite clear, and it is an indisputable fact that Chinese small commodities have been discriminated against and suppressed in Western markets due to other people's or their own reasons. In the city of Elche, one of the transit points for Wenzhou shoes to enter the Spanish and even European markets, a local slogan was displayed: "Drive out all Asian shoes from Elche and burn all the containers transporting Asian shoes!" and the Chinese shoe incident occurred. Stores were burned down. In Morocco, North Africa, when Chinese wholesalers opened stores in the port city of Casablanca, it caused a panic. In September this year, a local newspaper reported on this with the headline: "Be careful, the Chinese have landed!" In this regard, observers believe that in addition to taking diplomatic measures In addition to safeguarding legitimate rights and interests through legal means, China's small commodity market should also take this as a warning and conduct self-reflection. It is estimated that China's energy consumption per $10,000 of GDP is 40 times that of Japan. The British "Financial Times" reported that if China's exports implement environmental protection measures in accordance with international standards, the competitiveness of the Chinese economy will be completely lost. In addition, some experts pointed out that the vast majority of China's current export commodities are clothing, shoes and hats, and other labor-intensive products. Therefore, export commodities are actually exports of labor force. Although labor-intensive products will maintain their competitive advantage internationally for some time, this is not a long-term solution. "Made in China" should not just be synonymous with cheap goods, but should also create its own brand.