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China's Exporters Struggle for Quality
Chinese exporters have recognized the importance of quality management but seem to be at a loss on how to do it well, say experts.
Exports have developed to the stage where further expansion largely depends on quality improvement, said Qi Zhongtang, former vice-minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation (MOFTEC) in Beijing November 12.
Qi said the margin for development of new kinds of exports and expanding their quantity is narrowing.
"Judging from the size of China's exports, we may see that the country has almost exhausted the kinds of goods it can sell to other countries in the last two decades of rapid growth," he said.
China's annual export increased from a mere 40 billion U.S. dollars in the early 1980s to about 200 billion U.S dollars at present, official statistics show.
"Chinese exporters should learn to compete on the basis of quality instead of price or quantity," he said.
The former trade official made the comments at a symposium on the quality of China's exports, organized by the China National Enterprises' Association of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation.
About 100 trade companies from throughout the country gathered in Beijing last week to seek ways of improving their product's quality.
In the past, job ambiguity and overlapping responsibilities in many domestic companies often created gray areas where quality was overlooked.
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