The Chinese Century: The Rising Chinese Economy and Its Impact on the Global Economy, the Balance of Power, and Your Job

Chapter 5. The Two-Dollar Rolex

Outside China's major hotels, tourists are amused by the sight of Rolex watches being peddled for a few dollars. There is nothing funny, though, about the scale and scope of China's fake products industry or about the ramifications for the manufacturers of the genuine articles, mostly foreign multinationals. In 1998, China's Development and Research Center estimated the sales of pirated and counterfeit products at $16 billion annually; later reports raised the count to between $19 and $24 billion.^[1] The real numbers, to the extent that they can be measured accurately, are probably higher: The Chinese government wants to show that the problem is under control, and legitimate firms fear that high counts would lead ...