Made in China: Here, there and everywhere

Evi Mariani and Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The influx of Chinese products has caused concern in Indonesia as it has in other parts of the world. They have brought quick profit and joy to traders and consumers, but, on the other hand, forced local manufacturers to lay off workers and pushed many into bankruptcy. This cover story looks into the issue.

They are almost everywhere you go in Jakarta; in the streets, on buses, in malls, even in boutiques. They crawl into your bedroom, bathroom, living room, wardrobe, and perhaps your garage.

Products made in China have actually penetrated the Indonesian market from the time the nation was still under a colonial power.

Peasants in villages have used hoes made in China for as far back as anyone can remember. Seamstresses have long depended on needles from the most-populated country in the world.

But the past four years has seen an omnipresence of the panda- country's products in big cities as well as in rural areas.

The products vary widely from the most overlooked things in life like safety pins to toys, electronic goods and larger things like cars.

Compared to other imported goods, Chinese products have such distinctive characteristics that are worth a light discussion between coffee and snack with friends.

For example, no products are able to compete with their all- pervasive nature.

A typical office employee working in the heart of Jakarta might encounter Chinese goods three times a day; first on a bus he takes in the morning from home to the office, and the second time on the sidewalk he passes when he is walking to lunch and the third time on a bus home.

On Sunday when he goes out with the family to a middle-class shopping center, for instance, he would see underwear, hairbands, faucets and various tools like screwdriver sets and hammers, also made in China.

High-class department stores are also not free of Chinese products. If one looks closely, one may find branded clothes with "Made in China" sewn on the label.

This leads to another characteristic: The range in the quality of the products the Chinese industry generates.

"It seems that China's industry is versatile. I mean, you can tell them you want a particular product and mention the budget. Whether you have a lot of money or only a little, they can give you the product," Martin, a Chinese product observer, said.

Another characteristic that imprints the goods on your heart is the price, which often is amazingly low.

A hawker on a bus or on the street usually sells a set of 30 assorted sewing needles in a round plastic case at Rp 1,000 (about 10 US cents). For the same price you can get five dozen tiny safety pins.

"I don't see how. The hawker sells needles at Rp 1,000 and certainly he has already made some profit. His distributor sells it at a lower price, say Rp 850, while he also has already made some profit. Include the shipping cost from China and transportation from the port to the market, and do the math," Agi, one puzzled customer, said.

"At the end of the day what is left for the Chinese factory workers?" she added.

Here is another source of longer, if not more serious, discussion: The industry's notorious talent for copying someone else's bright ideas.

It is often reported in the media how factories in China that work under license for an American or Italian designer brand have made copies of the licensed products, put another brand on them and sold them to the lower-income bracket market.

"One day, when I went walking around motorcycle showrooms, I entered a store selling Chinese motorcycles. The salesman offered me some models that he claimed had similar features to some well- known Japanese brands," Dwi Hartanto, an NGO activist said.

"He told me that in the future if I needed to buy spare parts for the 'Krisma' type, I could buy parts from a Japanese Honda 'Karisma' dealer because the manufacturer deliberately designed the features based on 'Karisma'," he said.

Of course, the prices of Chinese motorcycles, dubbed "mochin" (standing for motor China or Chinese motorcycles) here, are lower than the Japanese motorcycles.

It is not surprising then that the quality is consequently lower.

Frieska Victoria, a student of Chinese Studies at the University of Indonesia, was disappointed with the quality of some Chinese electronic products.

Frieska said that her Nikko 29-inch flat-screen television only lasted for a year before requiring repairs, while other Japanese TVs could last up to five years.

"Yes, it's cheap. I bought it for only around Rp 2 million, while a similar Japanese TV is worth around Rp 5 million. It's less than half the price. But, a year later, the TV is already broken and some parts have to be replaced," she said.

But don't worry. If your Chinese DVD player is not working anymore, you can always buy another one here, there and everywhere.