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UPDATED: March 14, 2015 NO.12 MARCH 19, 2015
What's Behind the Lowly Status of 'Sold in China?'
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Changing demand

Wang Shichuan (China Youth Daily): It's only natural that consumers would be drawn to commodities of good quality. Chinese consumers' lust for the technologically advanced toilet seats sold in Japan also implies that Chinese people are embracing a higher standard of living than they did before. In the past, they were not able to purchase dual flush toilets and certainly would not have cared about whether or not this home appliance was comfortable to use.

Some people bemoan the fact that, even given its status as a sizeable manufacturing power, China nonetheless is still unable to produce better toilet seats than Japan does.

Consumers are driven by potential savings and tangible benefits in their buying behavior. If domestic products were good enough, no one would go to the trouble of bringing back a toilet seat from as far afield as Japan, and consumers from other nearby countries might even come to China to buy quality goods.

China has been able to take a leading role in hi-tech areas such as the aerospace industry. Why then is it unable to produce quality toilet seats for its own people?

Lin Lili (People's Daily): It has been revealed that toilet seat sold in Japan have added features such as heating, sanitizing, multiple water jets, and hot air dryers. Nowadays, more and more Chinese are starting to pursue an improved customer experience, from better shopping environments to after-sales services. They are no longer satisfied with a product that is merely usable, but hope instead to enjoy and glean benefits from what they buy.

Those who rushed to buy toilet seats in Japan do not represent a small exclusive cadre of very wealthy people but rather are mostly from the upper middle class. Domestic products can no longer satisfy them in many respects. The Chinese have moved out of an era characterized by a scarcity of goods. Some traditional industrial sectors are even providing quantity in excess of consumer demand.

It is clear that in the long run, only innovation can help to boost and fulfill consumer demand in various areas.

Some maintain that Japanese toilet seats have targeted a weak spot in China's toilet industry and exploited a gap in the market, as has been the case in other industries. However, we still believe that if Chinese companies can clearly recognize the chasm that exists between themselves and enterprises in developed nations and try to develop themselves accordingly through research, development and innovation, many products made in China, toilet seats included, will be sought after by consumers in China and beyond.

Xu Yichuang (www.hlj.rednet.cn): As regards Chinese consumers' voracious purchasing of toilet seats in Japan during this year's Spring Festival holidays, some have labeled the shoppers "unpatriotic," and some have expressed their dismay on the behalf of China's manufacturing sector.

These critics have overreacted. We have to admit that toilet seats bought from Japan are of a high quality and this simple fact accounts for their popularity with Chinese consumers. The Chinese tourists' runaway spending on them only serves to demonstrate they are merely in pursuit of a more comfortable and convenient lifestyle, and by no means should be termed "unpatriotic."

China is good at manufacturing. It not only exports toilet seats, but also cellphones, computers and automobiles to the rest of the world. As a developing economy, it's natural for gaps to exist in terms of production standards between China and Japan and other developed economies. Domestic consumers still for the most part cannot afford expensive premium quality products designed for everyday usage.

Meanwhile, the recent spending spree by consumers in Japan should pose a warning to Chinese industries. There exists huge purchasing power within the Chinese market, and the increasingly wealthy Chinese are no longer satisfied with the quality of what's on offer, rather they demand more sophisticated products of a better caliber.

China needs to vitalize its national industries, boost innovation and improve the quality of its products. At the same time, different product ranges catering especially to consumers from different socio-economic backgrounds should be provided. Simply put, in order to hold onto consumers who spend big outside China, the time has come for domestic enterprises and retailers to take action and fight for their share the native market.

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