China s toy industry is surprisingly sophisticated. But credit is most often given to the foreign companies that market and distribute these toys, not the manufacturers. To many consumers, Made in China means cheap plastic. Perceptions of the quality of Chinese manufactures haunt even Chinese themselves. David Tang, a Hong Kong industrialist, markets his goods instead as Made by Chinese at his Shanghai Tang department stores, such as the one on New York s toney Madison Avenue.
Economists see a familiar pattern in China s rise to dominance in the toy industry.
In the typical Asian development profile, industrial manufacturing begins with low-end manufactures, such as toys, then leads to electronics, consumer appliances, and onwards to the production of autos, ships, computers, and so on. For example, a generation ago Made in Japan meant plastic transistor radios and affordable cameras. Most economic forecasters believe China is on a similar development path, only beset more by the false starts and pitfalls of transitioning to a capitalist mode of production. But this is not the case. China s industries are already capable of producing the full range of industrial products and China has indigenous technology capable of producing and launching its own satellites, for example.