China is so often thought of as the World's Factory, it's easy to forget they're also a major, and growing, global purchasing force; producing all those inexpensive products and items of clothing has swelled their income by amounts that might seem small to wealthy Western nations, but would have been unimaginable to the Chinese citizen of two generations ago.
Japan, on the other hand, is largely recognized as producing sophisticated, high-quality, relatively expensive goods. Question is, which Japanese products would Chinese consumers buy?
Japanese business weekly Shukan Economist recently listed the top ten Japanese products purchased on Taobao, China's version of Amazon. The list was rather surprising. The number-one selling item, for instance, is a Uni pen set made by Mitsubishi that sells for 50 cents. "Why," asks Ray Tsuchiyama of Forbes, "is this Japanese pen continuing to sell without Chinese copycat products?"
One reason is that the materials and manufacturing are quite advanced for such a cheaply priced product, and a Chinese firm would have to invest much in product design and sourcing the right materials for manufacturing, and end up losing much time and funds.
Other items on the list are equally surprising, at least initially: Japanese baby formula, Japanese diapers and Japanese shampoo, all of which China already produces and sells for far less than their Japanese counterparts. But the Chinese variants of these products are known to be inferior or even chemically dangerous, and internet-savvy consumers of course want the best for their babies and their bodies.
This reminds me of American consumers refusing to buy junky American cars. While Chinese manufacturers are often derided for producing cheap and inferior products, it's worth remembering that that country's consumer and manufacturer are two different things entirely.
Read Tsuchiyama's full article on the subject here.