Feature: Made-in-China goods add color, wealth to Britain

LONDON, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- "It's so cute, could you please buy me that monkey hat?"

"I want the cat, mum!"

At the Christmas market at the foot of Edinburgh Monument in Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, two little sisters were attracted by the colorful hats in the shapes of monkey, cat, lion and tiger, most which had a small made-in-China tag.

"They are a lovely attraction in the market," said the saleswoman in her forties. Most of the traditional Christmas hats and gloves, red or green, sold at the booth, are made in China, and they have always been a best seller at the market, she said.

"I like the lion hat, it's lovely," a young man said. When asked whether he knows that those hats are made in China, the man said "yes."

"Not only these hats, there is almost everything made in China in shops actually all over the world," he said.

"Good and low-priced" things made in China are almost everywhere in Britain. Going to high street shops such as GAP, Sports World, Next and ZARA, British people would often end up buying home things made in China, with such big brands as Nike, Adidas, Clarks and many more, said the man who claimed to have quite a few Chinese classmates during his college years in London.

"China has one-fourth of the world's population, and the Chinese people are known for being hardworking and clever, (and thus) it's not strange to find so many things made in China," the man said.

The Scottish man's view is shared by tens of thousands of British people who are greeted with made-in-China in their daily life.

David Brewer, former Lord Mayor of the City of London, said made-in-China is growing to be part of the Europeans' daily life, and one of the complaints he got during his term came even from those Chinese visitors, as many of them coming to London in the hope of taking home British souvenirs for friends turned out to be buying goods made in China!

"What a change China has made over the past decades," Brewer said.

The former mayor, who has visited China for more than 100 times, said there were very few imported goods in Beijing's department stores in the first few years after China opened its door to the outside world some 20 years ago.

"But now there are plenty. You could buy anything from McDonald's fast food to Clarks shoes and BMW cars," he said.

Similar stories could be told the other way round, Brewer said." Twenty years back, there were literally nothing made in China in the European markets and worldwide."

Anne, a lady in her 60s from southwestern British region of Devon, said she was very happy to see more and more quality goods from China, noting 20 years ago, made-in-China goods would often mean "things colorful but inferior in quality."

While some westerners complain that there are too many made-in-China things, others believe it is nothing out of proportion, as China is a country with a huge population and it is the result of natural development to see Chinese goods after China joined the free market competition in the global economy arena.

China's fast growth is believed to benefit the rest of the world as the country offers a tremendous market and growth opportunity for the whole world.

The 2006 gross domestic product list by the World Bank showed that China ranked the fourth after the United States, Japan and Germany, and a World Investment Report said China is becoming one of the world's biggest markets.

According to the statistics published by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, Chinese products' export to Britain reached 2,575,309 million U.S. dollars in January-October period in 2007.

In a commentary published in the Times newspaper, Anatole Kasletsky, a commentator, reminded the price-sensitive British that commodities from China have not only helped bring down inflation figures but also made the already rich countries like Britain even richer.

China has pushed down the prices of all mass-produced manufactured goods, Kasletsky said.

The "virtually limitless supply of cheap labor and capital in China" will ensure that manufactured goods continue to get cheaper, not only in Britain but around the world, he added.

While economists talk about re-balancing demand towards the domestic economy and away from the international economy, China should become more dependent on internal consumer-driven demand than foreign demand, said Dylan Sutherland, a lecturer and China expert at the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies at Nottingham University as he talked about the growing Chinese trade surplus.

As for China's drive to build its own brands, Sutherland said ultimately the market competition should lead to Chinese brands, as this is a natural development in a market economy, a way of signaling to consumers about product consistency and reliability.