Can China's Reputation Be Saved?

Can this Reputation be Saved?

Unmade In China
Brand China's reputation has cracked and may stay broken for a while.

by Katie Delahaye Paine

Not that long ago it felt like the new China was just being discovered by Americans, and it was at the top of all my friends' "must visit" lists. Most came back in awe, saying that China was the future.

If they were right, there are a lot of product quality problems in that future. A recent series of disastrous revelations--including slave labor, contaminated pet food, seafood and toothpaste, salmonella in spices and poor quality tires--have seriously damaged China's reputation. A Google news search found over 5000 stories about Chinese recalls or contamination and a new report from China revealed that one in five Chinese products are substandard. Increasingly, American company executives are paying unannounced visits to their Chinese manufacturing plants to check on quality and workplace safety issues.

We doubt that the country's reputation will improve any time soon because of how China has responded, mostly with denials, limited facts and inaction. It doesn't help matters that the Chinese seem to be retaliating in kind, increasing their rejection of incoming U.S. food products.

Nothing destroys credibility like promising to investigate a problem and then, before you have a chance to talk about the results of the investigation, to have the same problem crop up again. Which is exactly what has been happening in China. (Although, we've got to admit, any country that would sentence its commissioner of food and drugs to death after he pleads guilty to corruption seems to be making an effort to tidy things up and let the rest of the world know it is doing so.)

Cultural differences may be a contributing factor. After finding contaminants in toothpaste, seafood and pet food, Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency, reported the results of the quality study, announcing with apparent pride that 80% of Chinese products are up to standard. This was no doubt meant to reassure the American market. Of course the U.S. media took a slightly different point of view: "One In Five Chinese Products Fails Quality Standard!"

It appears that some of the current China crisis is the result of increased scrutiny in advance of the Olympic Games to be held there next year. The Games will bring millions of visitors, bloggers and journalists to look behind the shiny new facade of China. Olympic sponsors don't pay millions to have their images tarnished by association, so sponsor scrutiny is also increasing.

Our prediction is that China's reputation will grow considerably more tarnished before it improves.