"Buy the 'Little Swan.' It is national brand," said the shop assistant. "You can enjoy a 13-percent discount, without any complicated application procedures."

What's more important, she added, is that it is much cheaper than other brands.

With the exact same logo and design, were he not reminded, Hu would never have been able to differentiate between what he was recommended with the authentic "Little Swan," one of the leading washing machine brands in China.

The tiniest difference lies within the second printed Chinese character – pronounced "xiao tian'e" (pinyin for "little swan"). This falsification, rather, changes the exact pronunciation of tian from xiao tian'e – into xiao yao'e.

"Little Swan" however, was not the only famous brand being forged amid the rural market spree – even the international brands fell victim to the counterfeiters, Phillips as Feilip, to name just one.

"The complaints related to the Program pose a serious problem in the first half of the year," according to a July report released by Sichuan Consumer Right Protection Association.

"The main problems are sales outlets' service," the report added, "after-sales service, and the illegal selling of shoddy products in the name of the Program."

A director of one Shenzhen-based home appliance enterprise said some small home appliance business have utilized this opportunity to resurrect declining sales by copying famous brands and cheating rural consumers.

"They usually offer staggeringly high return, as high as 20 percent for their agents and 13-percent subsidies to the customer," he said on the condition of anonymity.

Of course, "the high profit return means poor quality," he said.

In many parts of the country, however, reselling fake or defective television sets to farmers in the name of the Program has caused a heavy loss of property.

By July 15, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce has found some 4,020 fake and low-quality home appliances categorized in the Program this year.

The government has ordered that all the listed products must be designated with unified tag card.

Some farmers were cheated into buying home appliances with counterfeit tag cards and packing.

"In China, farmers still don't have enough access to information, and they are easily cheated by fault products," said Lu Zhenlin, an analyst at industry.dayiba.com, a Beijing-based home appliance analyzing website.

"We will crack down on the fake and shoddy products in the implementation of the Program and protect the interests of farmers and legal producers," said Lou Qinjian, the Vice Minister of MIIT at the teleconference.

Local governments at various levels have echoed the findings and rulings by the teleconference. The Yuzhong District government of Chongqing Municipality, for one, promised that all the complaints related to selling "home appliance in the countryside" should be responded within 24 hours, for which a special hotline has been publicized.

Fujian Province in southeast China has also encouraged rural residents to file complaints by sending cell phone short messages to 12315, a consumer hotline exclusively for this purpose.