Genuine fake: Customers look at a counterfeit Gucci bag in Beijing’s notorious silk market
Posted on 07/29/2007 1:13:34 PM PDT by BGHater
Just inside the entrance to Beijing's silk market, a sign reads "Promote the Development of National Brands and Protect Intellectual Property Rights".
But the high-minded slogan seems to have little meaning for the two smiling young women brazenly selling fake Max Mara jackets barely 20 ft away from it - and in full view of the market's management offices.
The sign is brand new, part of a plan to relaunch the silk market - perhaps the world's most notorious emporium of fake goods - as a source of high-quality, Chinese-made products. China has launched a crackdown on fake goods in an attempt to counter the damage to its international reputation from a series of scandals involving dangerous and shoddy exports.
In April last year, five fashion giants - Burberry, Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Prada - successfully sued the market for selling counterfeit versions of their products.
The market owners were fined 100,000 Yuan (£6,517), and afterwards they claimed they would get rid of the fakes. "There will be no counterfeit brand name commodities here," said Wang Zili, the general manager, at an official relaunch of the market.
But last week, officials from the Beijing Administration of Industry and Commerce raided the market and confiscated hundreds of bogus Nike and Adidas trainers and tracksuits. The raid came two days before the American commerce secretary Don Evans arrived in China for a forum on the protection of intellectual property rights.
China is under intense pressure from America and the EU to crack down on its pirate goods industry, which was worth more than £8 billion last year, according to government figures. The US claims that Chinese counterfeiters cost American businesses more than £1.3 billion a year, and 80 per cent of all fake products seized in the EU last year originated in China.
Visitors to the silk market last week appeared unconcerned about the provenance of their purchases. Daryl Mangan, 23, a student from Ayrshire, Scotland, was haggling over the price of fake Calvin Klein boxer shorts. "Coming here is one of the things you do in Beijing," said Mr Mangan. "I've been here four days and this is my second visit. It's a lot cheaper than buying clothes in the UK. I don't feel guilty at all about buying fake stuff."
He is not alone. A survey published in Britain this month found that two-thirds of consumers were happy to tell family and friends that they had purchased fakes.
Even as officials carted away their haul from last week's raid, hawkers outside the market were selling pirate copies of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for 40 Yuan (£2.60).
If the tourists are happy, then the traders on the third floor of the market who have been forced to stop selling fakes are less sanguine about their prospects. Few tourists are buying the high-end silk scarves, dresses and wool products they are supposed to be selling.
"The foreigners only come here for the copies and if we can't sell them, they won't come," said Maria Li, who has worked at the market for 10 years. "They like them because they're cheap and good quality."
Business is not helped by the fact that the reputation of Chinese goods is at an all-time low. A succession of recent food and product safety scandals, including toy trains covered in lead paint and toothpaste containing industrial solvent, has left the "Made in China" tag in tatters.
Last week, after the visiting EU commissioner for consumer protection, Meglena Kuneva, pressed Beijing for guarantees on the safety of the goods being exported to the EU, the government agreed to set up a task force to address the problems.
How far the authorities will really go is another question. At the silk market last week, copies of goods from some of the brands which sued are no longer available. "There's a list of brands we're not allowed to sell," said a woman purveying counterfeit Chloé handbags. "But it is only some copies the government doesn't like us selling. It's okay for us to sell these ones."
Genuine fake: Customers look at a counterfeit Gucci bag in Beijing’s notorious silk market
I bought stuff on Silk Street for my “now” wife and her mother.
Robes and PJ’s.
Almost 20 years ago.
Not 100% silk but very nice.
Would love to go back again.
The whole country is fake.
I just returned a genuine D&B purse to the company for repairs , it was bought from Macy’s and had the registration card and s/n... it was manufactured in China ... the “fakes” sold there are almost always made in the same factories of the same components and to the same quality levels as the “real” items during an overnight or w/e shift... What is real?
In a lot of places in Shanghai you don’t have to get but a few feet from the cab door and you get offers to buy Rolex and other expensive watches, designer purses and all kinds of other fake crap. Much of it looks real to the untrained eye and I possess two very untrained eyes. I never saw a Chinese person buy one of these fakes.
Some high end designers are using Italian leathers but having the handbags constructed in China. Guess which content label is easier to find.
Like many food producers, they try to hide the China connection from the consumer.
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