Lei Xiangping

    lagon235@163.com

    SINCE the 2008 financial crisis, which led to the abrupt shrinkage of international demand for Chinese products, made-in-China has been experiencing the painful process of upgrading from producing cheap and low-quality products to making high-quality, high-tech products.

    This year is crucial for the made-in-China’s upgrade. Since May, the State Council has issued two framework documents entitled “Made-in-China 2025 Strategy” and “Internet Plus Initiative” to make the made-in-China label more intelligent, environmentally friendly and high-quality by introducing state-of-the-art technologies and innovation.

    To implement the plans effectively, one indispensable aspect is to hold fast to the artisan spirit. The artisan spirit, having benefited from the achievements of the Four Great Inventions of ancient China, is still important to modern China, notwithstanding its intangible influence in helping make good products.

    Simply put, the artisan spirit is a series of professional norms crafters should abide by: be dedicated to improving the quality and design of their products by minimizing defects and honing details, persistently pursuing product perfection, improving their expertise and skills bit by bit and never let defective products flow into the market.

    The popularity of and unwavering respect to the artisan spirit in Germany and Japan have benefited both countries and helped them leapfrog from previously low-grade manufacturing centers to strong manufacturing powers.

    The irony is, however, that China has lacked the artisan spirit for decades, and Chinese products have earned the notoriety of being manufactured in a rough and slipshod way. After 30 years of rapid expansion by either copycatting foreign products or focusing on making money fast, China has become one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of cheap products, from tiny items like lighters, socks and shoes to big ones like electrical appliances and automobiles.

    Compared with Germany and Japan, made-in-China can hardly be defined as “strong.” This has been illustrated by recent news reports of Chinese tourists swarming to South Korea and Japan to buy electric rice cookers and toilet lids. Obviously, the quality, design and technology of made-in-China products do not satisfy even the needs of the new Chinese middle class, let alone the needs of consumers in developed economies.

    Meanwhile, in recent years, with the demographic bonus fading away and the rise of domestic labor cost, made-in-China has been sandwiched in between some developing manufacturing countries such as India, Vietnam and Cambodia, which have plenty of cheaper laborers, and some developed countries, which have relocated some of their offshore factories back home and introduced intelligent manufacturing technologies to facilitate their skilled workers.

    This has resulted in unprecedented pressure for China’s manufacturing sector. Made-in-China products need to find a new edge, yet there are many hurdles, like the low social status for skilled workers and outdated curriculum in vocational schools.

    Although China has issued two strategies to upgrade made-in-China, these strategies will just be window dressing if they are not implemented in a down-to-earth manner, especially by practicing the artisan spirit. Attitudes toward skilled laborers much change. Chinese companies should pay skilled workers the salaries they deserve and give them more opportunities for career development. And the government should reform vocational schools so they better meet market needs.

    (The author is an editor with the News Desk at China Radio International.)