Quote:
Originally Posted by jlomon
I don't think they're worried about revolution. A comparatively small portion of their population is enjoying the benefits of the open economy.
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And the most of that comparatively small portion is "connected" one way or the other to the Chinese government.
We were selling packet seed to a gentleman in China for distribution in a chain of nursery/garden centers. For about 3 years, he would call up every six months or so and order $5K-$10K of assorted vegetable seed packets. About a week after placing each order, he would show up at our offices and whip out the corresponding amount of cash to pay for that order.
An interesting thing about the Chinese people, which he told us, is that they view Chinese made products very poorly and want to buy "American" products as a status symbol. There were no virtually no seed packet companies in China at the time which was why he contacted us.
Another interesting thing about China is that there is a tremendous amount of counterfeit, Chinese-made "American" products on the shelves because "American" products are the preferred choice. Often with the exact same name and logo, sometimes just slightly different. The publication and printing segment is huge over there, most color catalogs and many books sold here were printed there, so it's not difficult to get something reproduced.
Needless to say, we haven't heard from him for a couple of years now. And amazingly, there are counterfeit seed packets on the market with our own logo on them, sold in many of the garden centers and nurseries. We have taken legal action, albeit token since there is generally little to no recourse unless you're a multi-billion dollar company who has the means, lawyers and time to follow up on it.