Chinese Goods Must Be Regulated

In recent months China has seen its products, riddled with flaws and defects as a result of the country's cost cutting efforts, recalled in the American market - and the rest of the world is taking notice. In the past year we have seen Chinese made cars fail spectacularly in safety tests, Chinese toys found contaminated with lead paint and Chinese produce rife with contaminants. And yet despite all the problems, China has failed to mount any sort of real change in its industry. Until China makes dramatic changes in the way that it regulates its companies, it will continue to remain a second tier nation in terms of manufacturing quality and how its products are seen across the world.

The Chinese Jinbei Automotive Company recently introduced the ironically named Brilliance BS6, described as a luxury car at an entry level price. However, when the BS6 was put through a 40 MPH crash test by the German ADAC (Germany's largest automobile club), the car managed the minimum one star out of five. If the crash test is any indication, the BS6 is a death trap. The vehicle's firewall bent forward, and the pedals were offset to the back by two feet, crushing the bodies and legs of any potential drivers. These cars are going to be sold in Europe before the end of the year and are planned to be introduced stateside sometime in the foreseeable future.

These cars aren't even close to being safe to drive in any circumstances, especially with the amount of sport utility vehicles on the road in America. Not only are the cars unsafe, but they could be rolling on unsafe tires. Twenty-four states during the summer of 2007 recalled almost 300,000 Chinese made tires that have the same problems with tread separation that Firestone was under such heavy scrutiny for seven years ago. Firestone was checked by government pressure and by threat of lawsuit. Chinese manufacturers face no such legitimate pressure

Chinese toys have also come under scrutiny recently for the gaffes in product-checking. From an area where 70 percent of the world's toys are produced, we have seen recalls of over a million Sesame Street toys due to leadbased paint contamination . Just this past week over 800,000 Barbie accessories and Fisher Price toys were recalled again due to lead paint, and small magnets that could be swallowed by children and lead to perforated bowels. Mattel, the company who makes Barbie toys, has taken action and severed ties with the contractors in China responsible for the lead contamination.

Chinese agriculture has also been under fire for its sub-par products for quite some time now. With recalls of everything from dog food to toothpaste, China does little to inspire confidence in its products. In fact, when first confronted with the news that their dog food was killing canines across the world, they denied that it was their product and to this day their oversight agencies claim that China's produce is as high a quality as it has ever been. This kind of denial of a clear and documented problem is cause for concern, as it shows that China is more interested in making money in the short term than protecting people and by extension its reputation in international trade.

The effects aren't just limited to products sent overseas, however. One of the few internal pushes from the Chinese government for greater safety standards was the result of a recent incident. Twelve babies were killed after consuming a known cancer-causing dye that had been added to Chinese grown eggs. It's a shame that China feels the need to hide problems from the international community and only make real changes when these problems strike close to home and there is local outrage over it.

The Chinese response to these crises has been completely misguided. As a result of the most recent toy recall, the CEO of the company responsible, Zhang Shuhong, committed suicide. This is considered an honorable act in the East and seems to have halted the calls for change in China. The sweeping manufacturing reforms needed to assure the rest of the world of the quality of China's products have been nowhere in sight. Instead we have been offered a raft of empty rhetoric and vague promises from Hu Jintao, China's president, to work with the rest of the world in increasing the standards of China's manufactured goods and agricultural products.

According to an article by the Associated Press, up to 60 percent of the United State's recalled products this year were made in China. Chinese manufacturing standards need to become comparable to those in the rest of the modern world. Chinese companies must stop cutting costs at the expense of human beings, and be honest with the rest of the world about these problems. China has many advantages in manufacturing, and has already demonstrated impressive economic gains, but if it hopes to take its place among the first rank of manufacturing nations, it must take on the same responsibilities of quality that other economic powers do.

Staff Columnist John MacArthur is a 3rd-semester economics major. He can be reached at John.MacArthur@UConn.edu.