Newfound quality
‘ Made in China’ embraces new brand image
The “Made in China” label has long stood for cheap, inferior and low- end products. But today, such a perception no longer holds water.
In recent years, product quality in China is quietly edging up as the country is seeking to shift its growth equation away from exports and investment toward consumption.
Some Chinese products not only compete with their foreign competitors when entering overseas markets, but have even begun to surpass them.
Full steam ahead
Regular delays and overcrowding have become synonymous with riding the subway in Boston, a city home to one of the oldest underground networks in the United States.
But in about two years, Boston riders could soon enjoy state- of- the- art subway cars, which will have larger seats, LCD monitors, CCTV- operated display screens and automatic passenger counting systems.
The subway cars will be designed and built by China’s largest high- speed railcar maker CRRC, the largest train maker in the world which has been rapidly expanding its presence by winning major contracts.
“No more sleepless nights with 40- year- old subway cars rattling under the streets of Boston,” said Zhou Chuanhe, chairman and president of the CRRC Massachusetts. “Boston is a center for great transportation and should be able to point with pride to its subway cars.”
From gear and screw assemblies, heat- resistant technologies to breakthroughs in control systems, the shiny new railcars are an embodiment of the company’s innovative achievements.
“We are confident that CRRC will be able to deliver the vehicles that we need to move the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority ( MBTA) into the 21st century,” said Stephanie Pollack, secretary and CEO of the Massachusetts Transportation Department.
The CRRC, also known as the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation, was formed in 2015 through the merger of China’s top two train makers. The Boston contract the company won before the merger was China’s first major rail contract in North America, and CRRC built a rail car manufacturing plant in Springfield to fulfill the contract.
Since 2014, CRRC has won 1,359 subway car and commuter train car orders in Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Philadelphia.
“We’ve ventured out into foreign markets, successfully innovated our business model, and gained a foothold in the US, where CRRC has become China’s ‘ golden business card,’” said CRRC President Liu Hualong.
The company will not only bring comfort and convenience to commuters but will also help boost local economic growth and employment.
“From supporting the local economy in Springfield and creating new manufacturing jobs to improving public transportation for Massachusetts commuters and visitors, this project brings with it extensive benefits across the Commonwealth,” said Governor of Massachusetts Charlie Baker.
“Made- in- China” high- speed trains are now witnessing growing popularity in the global market.
CRRC also supplied subway trains to Saudi Arabia to meet the country’s transport needs between Riyadh and Mecca, and CRRC- made trains were used in Rio de Janeiro’s key Olympic transport metro line.
Calling card
The rapid development of China’s high- speed train industry offers only a glimpse into the rapid transformation and upgrading of “Made in China” products in recent years.
On the back of tech prowess and value, an increasing number of Chinese companies, including Huawei, Lenovo, Gree, Xiaomi and drone maker DJI- Innovation, have gained footholds in the international market.
Take the cell phone industry for example. Chinese smartphone brands, including Huawei, Oppo and Vivo, have eaten into the global market share of their rivals such as Apple and Samsung.
Advancing rapidly into new markets worldwide, Huawei is now the world’s third largest smartphone manufacturer, with a close to 10 percent market share in the first quarter of this year. Its products are particularly welcomed in Europe, where the company is growing at an unprecedented pace.
In India, Chinese brands have together accounted for 51 percent share of the smartphone sector as of late 2016.
In August 2016, Chinese smartphone vendor ZTE took 9.4 percent of the Russian smartphone market in terms of quantity shares, coming in the second place.
Transsion, a Shenzhen- based company whose products are sold under the Tecno, itel and Infinix brand names, has grabbed 40 percent of the African market.
By developing handsets with dual SIM slots and optimizing its cameras to better highlight the features of people with dark skin tones, the smartphone manufacturer, which few Chinese have heard of, has become the top player in Africa’s fast growing smartphone market.