Chinese tourists queue to refund in Printemps department store in Paris on March 20, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese media has called to unify the manufacturing process and quality standards for domestic products and export products, attempting to reverse the trend of Chinese consumers looking abroad for many commodities.

Media has widely covered the phenomenon of Chinese tourists scooping up daily necessities while on overseas tours. A small selection of these highly sought-after goods includes anti-mosquito paste and toilet seats from Japan, kitchenware from Germany and milk powder from the Netherlands.

“I have bought water heaters from Germany and electric tooth brushes from the United States, but they are all made in China. I've carried toilet seats home from foreign countries, too, but eventually I began to suspect that they were just exports from Hangzhou manufacturers,” A woman surnamed Tang was quoted as saying in a People’s Daily commentary on Monday.

The commentary echoed instructions from China’s State Council, issued on Sept. 6. The instructions require manufacturers to adopt the “three same policy” in the production of goods for both domestic use and export: same production line, same standards and same quality. This is to be accomplished in the next five years.

An unnamed official from the Certification and Accreditation Administration of China admitted that, due to the developmental gap between China and Western countries, China has historically had less demanding legal quality standards for some commodities, especially when it comes to chemical safety, physical mechanics, sanitation, etc. This caused manufacturers to develop double standards for the same product, with versions of the product to be sold domestically inferior in quality to those intended for export.

“But this [trend] is increasingly out of date, as Chinese people are getting wealthier and developing more demands when it comes to consumption,” said the official.