[mkr-hn]

People often confuse the long history of low-quality imports from China for some essential quality of China. They don't realize or ignore that the quality was determined by what the people who commissioned the products or built the factory--usually not companies or people in China--were willing to pay for their target margins.

There's a scene in Back to the Future where past-Doc is shocked to learn Japan shed its reputation for poor quality once all the good stuff started coming from there in the 1980s. China is experiencing a similar perception shift as more companies inside and out make higher quality stuff there.

One of the most innovative lens manufacturers is a Chinese company (Venus Optics). I'm probably a few months from buying a flash from a Chinese company (Godox) that by all accounts is 90%+ of the quality of the first-party flashes at half the price. I use a Huion tablet which I have to admit is a bit shoddy in construction, but is almost as precise as the Wacom equivalent it competes with at a fraction of the price. If it breaks twice and I replace it each time, I'm still out less than if I went with Wacom.

I don't care for a lot of the policies of the party, but I still have to recognize when the country makes something good.