China's Market for Counterfeit Goods Part 2

China’s Market for Counterfeit Goods

                                                                Part 2

As I begin to re-examine my investigation into the world of counterfeit goods in 

China, I find that there are more facets to the topic than one might expect. My time 

spent in Beijing last month exposed to me points if examination such as the roadside 

stores and boutiques that display counterfeit items, the range of quality available for 

these goods, the loopholes found in their manufacturing, and the surprising and rare 

finds that seem to be top points of sale at Beijing’s Pearl and Silk markets.

I pass the same shops every day during my daily commute to school, and every 

day I am amazed at the shameless window displays that boast hefty designer brand 

labels sewn into every day street clothes. On occasion I stumble into one of these 

storefronts, and am confronted with a rack of average quality clothes that have been 

branded to be something they’re not. One particular afternoon, I picked up a light green 

sweater with a Lanvin tag sewn into the back. I knew that this sweater wasn’t worth the 

hanger it came on, but I asked the clerk to tell me the cost. Her reply was preposterous 

and amusing all at the same time - 800 Chinese kuai for this?! “This is real Lanvin 

sweater, very nice.” I chuckled and politely returned the frock which was one of many 

lining the racks with tags that surely did not fit the garments.

Some merchants, however, can not afford to sell their products with such 

conviction. It is not uncommon to see street vendors and small cart operators pedaling 

goods that hold a strong resemblance to the genuine item they’re modeled after, but 

have a slight alteration that could save the merchant from serious trouble if detected. 

For instance, the ever popular Coach purses that have been replicated time and time 

again can be spotted with a different pattern on the arms of some shoppers. Instead of 

the traditional pattern of large consecutively placed “C”s, manufacturers of the knock 

offs have replaced this with the letter “G” that holds a small difference. This small 

difference, however, saves merchants from mountains of ramifications from officials 

looking to regulate the sales of counterfeit goods because although there is a striking 

resemblance, technically the merchant is selling another product with its own unique 

qualities. 

Last month, I was given the opportunity to visit Beijing for a week. Among the 

town rich in Chinese history and culture are two infamous shopping meccas known as 

The Pearl Market and The Silk Market. I visited both, and collected interesting findings. 

Both of these markets displayed something interesting in that they were large 

commercial buildings. This made me think, how could a hub for illegal counterfeit goods 

be so commercial? When I entered The Pearl Market, I faced large stations overflowing 

with wallets and bags, and salespeople beckoning for potential customers’ attention. 

The sound of bargaining and clacking calculators fills the air, and the smell of leather 

finds its way through every square inch. This is where i met Nancy, a young Chinese 

woman selling counterfeit Nike sneakers. As my friends and I tried on various pairs, we 

were enamored at the quality of the sneakers - an uncanny replication. They were even 

accompanied by an authentic Nike shoebox. I asked Nancy, “Where are these shoes 

made and how do they come with their own Nike shoebox?” Nancy replied, “I have a 

factory, they give me the shoes with the box.” Her answer didn’t quite satiate my inquiry, 

but it did validate my notion that with the language barrier and the secretive nature of 

this business, I wasn’t getting much information from anyone any time soon. 

At The Silk Market, I was confronted by some of the most shockingly realistic 

counterfeit goods I had ever seen. The prices alone showed that although these items 

weren’t genuine, they were of undeniably high quality. Here  I also observed that there 

were more than just bags that were being sold. I encountered Polo sweaters, designer 

riding boots, even perfumes and makeup made with questionable ingredients that all 

had notable labels. With this huge booming operation, one would think of it as an 

accepted an unstoppable force. However, the Chinese government does claim to take 

this seriously. In an article from www.globalpost.com, I read, “Act fast to get those 

knock-off bags, because they might not be available for much longer.Chinese and US 

authorities have collaborated for the first time to shut down a major 

counterfeiting operation in the province of Guangdong, according to Women's Wear 

Daily.The goods included knock-off handbags that appeared to be brands like Coach, 

Hermès and Louis Vuitton. Authorities arrested 73 people who were planning to 

distribute almost a million bags to the Middle East and the United States, according to 

WWD.....International Anticounterfeiting Coalition, said at a press conference that the 

‘crackdown by the Chinese government was unprecedented related to the luxury goods 

market and the number of arrests made.’ ‘We’ve always believed that China could do 

far more [in counterfeit enforcement] and obviously this is a great step in the right 

direction,’ Barchiesi said. ‘I believe there is a lot of pressure from the US government 

now on China to step up to the plate to protect ... US companies.’ ” (Ashley Lutz, Global 

Post, 11/3/12)