From: China Daily
Tourists need to sharpen their vigilance when buying Taiwan products on Gulangyu Island in Xiamen because many of the items are counterfeit, said Zeng Qingguang, a senior officer in the Siming district administration of industry and commerce in Xiamen.
The fake goods are mostly cigarettes, mobile phones and watches, he noted. A few are clothes and jewelry.
Some of the cigarettes are labeled “Taiwan well-known brands”, but Zeng, who has visited the island across the Straits, has never found them in Taiwan markets.
He said the cigarettes are fakes “made by illegal Taiwan factories”.
In addition, genuine Taiwan cigarettes carry warnings about smoking not found on those sold in Gulangyu, he said.
“Most counterfeits come by fishing boat, so they are difficult for us to detect,” Zeng said.
Still the island has “taken many actions to fight counterfeiting”, he said.
Last November “enforcement officials from different departments jointly carried out a three-month campaign, closing shops and seizing a batch of fake cigarettes, which checked illegal sales”, Zeng said.
But more efforts are needed, he added. “The business district in Gulangyu is co-mingled with residential areas, so many counterfeits are hidden in houses where we have no authority to search.”
As well, “some vendors have shops within shops to prevent examination – they apparently do legitimate business, but they actually sell counterfeits out the back-door”, he explained.
Some local tour guides collude with shopkeepers in illegal sales, which further deepens the difficulty of detection.
The guides are just local residents who have no tourism qualification or certificates, according to local enforcement officials.
They often pretend to warn tourists about Taiwan counterfeits, then lead them to buy so-called real Taiwan specialties in shops that give them a kickback.
“Shopkeepers sometimes have to lower the costs of the products – saving money to give higher kickbacks to the tour guides – but the shoddy products make them rely further on the tour guides. It’s vicious circle,” said a local shopkeeper.
He called on local government departments to strengthen cooperation to cultivate a fair business environment for the lawful businesspeople on the island.
Gulangyu was named “China’s most beautiful urban zone” by the Chinese version of National Geographic magazine and has applied for listing as a UNESCO World Heritage site, but the rampant sales of counterfeits might be the biggest obstacle to its selection, according to some experts.
