Over the past decade, the world has become the go-to country. If you want something manufactured, China is at the top of the list. If you want engineering services completed, China is gaining in stature. Yes, China has become the go-to nation on so many products and services. It has also become an integral component of the World economy.
I’ve written about the woes of China many times (China’s Silent Problem), and we now realize there is a consistent and persistant quality challenge for many products sourced there. To help curtail this issue, the FDA set up a Chinese office and now the Consumer Product Safety Commission is setting up a Bejing office. The AP reports.
U.S. regulators announced plans Thursday to set up a Beijing office to help ensure Chinese exports are safe for Americans following a slew of recalls involving everything from pet food to children’s toys.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission was seeking to establish a permanent presence overseas for the first time to better cooperate with Chinese regulators and companies so the country’s products are up to U.S. standards, the agency’s chairwoman Inez Tenenbaum said.
However, even as one gets past the quality challenges of doing business with China, bigger and potentially more toxic problem likely exist. For one, political and social unrest is present in many sectors of this vast country. For instance, in this weeks edition of ”The Economist,” an article on the growing labor discontent is on page 37. It states:
WORKERS’ opposition to privatisation and job cuts is widespread but rarely takes so brutal a form as it did on July 24th in northeastern Jilin province, when steel workers chased down and killed an executive who had reportedly come to tell them that an imminent privatisation of their factory would bring massive job cuts… The incident highlights not only China’s labour discontent but the country’s difficulty in dealing with it. Last year, China introduced a series of labour laws that improved mediation and set up an arbitration process to give workers better formal recourse for their grievances, both individual and collective. Workers have indeed been using the process in greater numbers. But only a small share of disputes are taken up, whereas discontents are multiplying.
China chose to become a world leader for many reasons, including improving the standard of living for its’ people. However as a world leader (which they are), comes with it increasing transparency and disclosure. And with each passing day, one has to wonder if another Without Warning Event like toys tainted with lead, a civil uprising, or an economic bubble will present itself. Yes, China is a world power. However, China also feels like its just a minute away from another Without Warning Event, which will be heard and felt around the world.
