Consumer Voices: Asserting Rights in Post-Mao China

China Information

Volumn 14, Issue 2, 2000, Pages 92-128

  Hooper, Beverley ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 78751658779     PISSN: 0920203X     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0920203X0001400203     Document Type: Article

References (125)

1. Agence France Presse, 3 December 1996. Edelman Public Relations was the first international public relations company to begin operations in China.
2. China Daily, 3 February 1998. The survey, conducted by the Lingdian Market Research Company (Lingdian diaocha gongsi), China's most prominent independent research organization, polled people in ten large Chinese cities (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Nanning, Wuhan, Xi'an, Jinan, Shenyang and Xiamen).
3. For example, Yanrui Wu, China's Consumer Revolution: The Emerging Patterns of Wealth and Expenditure (London: Edward Elgar, 1998); Li Conghua, China: The Consumer Revolution (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1998); Deborah Davis, ed., China's Urban Consumer Revolution (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999); Linda Chao and Ramon H. Myers, “China's Consumer Revolution: The 1990s and Beyond,” Journal of Contemporary China 7 (1998): 351-68.
4. Hans B. Thorelli, “Consumer Problems: Developed and Less Developed Countries,” in The Frontier of Research in the Consumer Interest: Proceedings of the International Conference on Research in the Consumer Interest, ed. E. Scott Maynes (Columbia: University of Missouri, 1988), 532.
5. Wu, China's Consumer Revolution, 14-16.
6. On the symbolic importance of status goods in a number of Asian countries, see Michael Pinches, ed., Culture and Privilege in Capitalist Asia (London: Routledge, 1999), 24-41.
7. This is reflected in the ownership of refrigerators, television sets and washing machines, three items that are often used as indicators of rising standards of living in developing countries. See Wu, China's Consumer Revolution, 82.
8. See, for example, William K. Darley and Denise M. Johnson, “Cross-National Comparison of Consumer Attitudes: Towards Consumerism in Four Developing Countries,” Journal of Consumer Affairs 27, no. 12 (1993): 37-54; Kee-Choon Rhee and Jinkook Lee, “Review of Consumer Activism in Korea, 1910-1995: A Political-Economic Approach,” Journal of Consumer Policy 19, no. 3 (1996): 365-92 Erdener Kaynak and Solveig Wikstrom, “Methodological Framework for a Cross-National Comparison of Consumerism Issues in Multiple Environments,” European Journal of Marketing 19, no. 1 (1985): 31-46; Richard Widdows et al., “Consumer Issues and Consumer Protection in Asia,” Advancing the Consumer Interest 7, no. 1 (1995): 12-17.
9. See “Consumer Protection: Report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations,” Journal of Consumer Policy 16, no. 1 (1993): 97-121.
10. Darley and Johnson, “Cross-National Comparison”: 37.
11. Christopher Earle Nevitt, “Private Business Associations in China: Evidence of Civil Society or Local State Power?,” The China Journal, no. 36 (1996): 43.
12. The wide-ranging academic debate is summarized in Yijiang Ding, “Corporatism and Civil Society in China: An Overview of the Debate in Recent Years,” China Information 12, no. 4 (1998): 44-67; Heath Chamberlain, “Civil Society with Chinese Characteristics,” The China Journal, no. 39 (1998): 69-82.
13. On the history of civil society in Western thought, see John Keane, Democracy and Civil Society (London: Verso, 1988), 31-68.
14. See, for example, Zbignieu Rau, ed., The Reemergence of Civil Society in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union (Boulder: Westview Press, 1991).
15. Heath Chamberlain, “Coming to Terms with Civil Society,” Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, no. 31 (1994): 115, 117. This argument is developed, with particular reference to China, in Heath B. Chamberlain, “On the Search for Civil Society in China,” Modern China 19, no. 2 (1993): 209, and Chamberlain, “Civil Society”: 77-81.
16. Chamberlain, “Coming to Terms”: 117.
17. See, for example, Zhongguo xiaofeizhe xiehui (China Consumers’ Association), ed., Zhongguo xiaofeizhe yundong shi nian (Ten years of the Chinese consumer movement) (Beijing: Zhongguo tongji chubanshe, 1995); Xie Cimao, ed.) Xiaofeizhe baohufa tonglun (General survey of the consumer law) (Beijing: Zhongguo fazhi chubanshe, 1994), 24-33. The term yundong has been more widely used to describe specific “campaigns” against fake products, discussed later in this article.
18. Nevitt, “Private Business Associations”: 43.
19. An exception is Brook and Frolic, Civil Society, 10-13.
20. For details of the debate, see Ding, “Corporatism and Civil Society”: 44-67; Chamberlain, “Civil Society”: 69-82.
21. For example, Robert N. Mayer, The Consumer Movement: Guardians of the Marketplace (Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1989); Thorelli, “Consumer Problems,” 523-46; John T.D. Wood, “Consumer Protection in the Asia-Pacific Region,” Journal of Consumer Policy 14, no. 1 (1991): 104.
22. This section is based on information published in Chinese consumer magazines and the general media, as well as several research visits to, and discussions in, China during the 1980s and 1990s.
23. See Beverley Hooper, “Keeping up with the Wangs: Consuming Desires in Post- Mao China,” Asia-Pacific Magazine, no. 9/10, 1998, 17-22.
24. Shichang bao (Market news), 18 March 1998. For a detailed description of quality problems in Fujian in the late 1990s, see Fujian xiaofeizhe (Fujian consumers), no. 1, 1999, 3-6.
25. Xinhua Beijing, 29 December 1991.
26. See Note 2 for the cities surveyed. Diyi shou (First hand), 11 March 1998, in www.chinavista.com/business/market/lingdian/chdiaocha206.html accessed 12 June 1998.
27. Zhongguo xiaofeizhe bao (China Consumer News), 21 September 1994. For a discussion of this problem, see Beverley Hooper, “Globalisation and Resistance in Post-Mao China: The Case of Foreign Consumer Products,” Asian Studies Review 24, no. 4 (2000) (forthcoming).
28. See Thorelli, “Consumer Problems,” 533-35. On product safety problems in Vietnam, see Wood, “Consumer Protection”: 103-104.
29. Xinhua Beijing, 12 December 1996.
30. Renmin ribao (People's Daily), 9 April 1995.
31. Renmin ribao, 7 February 1998; Zhongguo xiaofeizhe bao, 11, 12 February 1998.
32. Shichang bao, 18 March 1999.
33. Statement at Beijing press conference by Wu Gaohan of the China Consumers’ Association, reported in Japan Economic Newswire, 23 July 1999.
34. See Lin Fuqian, Changpin dizha ji qi fangzhi (Product deception and its prevention) (Beijing: Fazhi chubanshe, 1996).
35. China Daily, 9 March 1994.
36. Gary G. Hamilton and Chi-kong Lai. “Consumerism without Capitalism: Consumption and Brand Names in Late Imperial China,” in The Social Economy of Consumption, eds. Henry J. Rutz and Benjamin S. Orlove (Lanham: University of America, 1989), 253-79.
37. When I was living in Beijing in 1975-76, for example, my fellow-students and teachers were very conscious of the “superiority” of brands such as Flying Pigeon and Phoenix bicycles, and White Cat detergent.
38. Chicago Tribune, 26 February 1996.
39. On the development of advertising during the 1980s and 1990s, see Randall Stross, “The Return of Advertising in China: A Survey of the Ideological Reversal,” The China Quarterly, no. 123 (1990): 485-502; Junhao Hong, “The Resurrection of Advertising in China: Developments, Problems, and Trends,” Asian Survey 34, no. 4 (1994): 326-42.
40. Judy Polumbaum, “Political Fetters, Commercial Freedoms: Restraint and Excess in Chinese Mass Communications,” in The China Handbook, ed. Christopher Hudson (Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1997), 211-26; Xinhua Beijing, 16 September 1999.
41. Beijing Review, 29 July 1985.
42. Lingdian diaocha gongsi, Lingdian diaocha (Lingdian Investigations) (Beijing: Dazhong wenyi chubanshe, 1998), 119.
43. Observation of television advertisements and stores in Fuzhou, carried out by Chen Chuqing on my behalf in January-February 1999.
44. The number of newspapers published in China increased from 186 in 1978 to 829 a decade later, and the number of magazines from 930 to 5,865 during the same period, with lesser increases over the following decade. Zhongguo tongji nianjian (China statistical yearbook) (Beijing: Zhongguo tongji chubanshe, 1998), 705.
45. See Polumbaum, “Chinese Mass Communications, “ 211-26.
46. For a listing of these publications, see Zhongguo xiaofeizhe xiehui, ed., Zhongguo xiaofeizhe yundong shi nian, 41-43.
47. International Herald Tribune, 30 July 1996.
48. Zhongguo xiaofeizhe bao, 7 December 1996.
49. Yancheng wanbao (Yancheng Evening News), 30 July 1998; Time Magazine, 28 February 2000.
50. www.ccj.org.cn accessed 8 October 1999. A similar site at www.consumer-gd.net/ was set up by the Consumers’ Committee of Guangdong Province.
51. Interview with Li Yuanyu, Beijing, 10 September 1998.
52. For example, www.cctv315.ihw.com.cn
53. For example, w ww.ok315.yeah.net was established by Shu Jian, a journalist who hosts a consumer complaints radio program in Hangzhou.
54. Nanfang ribao (Southern Daily), 2 October 1998.
55. Diannao shijie (Computer world), 10 August 1998; Shenghuo shibao (Life times), 28 July 1998.
56. Report on Beijing television, 27 February, communication from Chen Chuqing.
57. See Sophia Woodman, “Less Dressed Up as More: ‘Promoting Non-Profit-making Organisations’ by Regulating Away Freedom of Association,” China Perspectives, no. 22 (1999), 24-26.
58. Nevitt, “Private Business Associations,” 43.
59. For details of the establishment, growth and activities of the Chinese Consumers’ Association, see Zhongguo xiaofeizhe xiehui, ed., Zhongguo xiaofeizhe yundong shi nian. Before the establishment of the CCA, consumer associations had been established by a few local administrations, including Xinle (in Hebei Province), Guangzhou and Harbin.
60. S. Sothi Rachagan, “Protection against Unfair Trade Practices in Malaysia - Law, Enforcement, and Redress in a Developing Country,” Journal of Consumer Policy 15, no. 3 (1992): 255-76; Kee-Choon Rhee and Jinkook Lee, “Review of Consumer Activism”: 365-92; Mizanur Rahman, “Consumer Protection in Bangladesh: Law and Practice,” Journal of Consumer Policy 17, no. 3 (1994): 349-62; Yaolung James Hsieh and Debra L. Scammon, “Cultural and Economic Antecedents to Evolving Consumer Concerns in Taiwan,” Journal of Consumer Policy 16, no. 1 (1993): 61-78.
61. Hsieh and Scammon, “Cultural and economic Antecedents”; also Gurjeet Singh, “Business Self-Regulation and Consumer Protection in India: A Critique,” Journal of Consumer Policy 16, no. 1 (1993): 1-33.
62. Hsieh and Scammon, “Cultural and Economic Antecedents”: 62.
63. Some provincial consumer organizations are called associations (xiehui) while others, for example in Guangdong and Fujian, are called committees (weiyuanhui).
64. Interview conducted on author's behalf by Chen Chuqing, Fuzhou, 8 February 1999.
65. For an overall outline of social associations, see Minxin Pei, “Chinese Civic Associations: An Empirical Analysis, “ Modern China 24, no. 3 (1998): 285-318.
66. Gordon White, “Prospects for Civil Society: A Case Study of Xiaoshan City,” in China's Quiet Revolution: New Interactions between State and Society, eds. David S.G Goodman and Beverley Hooper (New York: St. Martins Press, 1994), 198.
67. Zhongguo xiaofeizhe xiehui, ed., Zhongguo xiaofeizhe yundong shi nian, inscription by Li Peng (unnumbered).
68. For an overview of the debate, see Ding, “Corporatism and Civil Society”: 44-67.
69. Vivienne Shue “State Power and Social Organization in China,” in State Power and Social Forces: Domination and Transformation in the Third World, eds. Joel S. Migdal, Atul Kohli and Vivienne Shue (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 78.
70. Beijing Review, 23-29 July 1990.
71. Donald B. King and Gao Tong, Consumer Protection in China: Translations, Developments, and Recommendations (Littleton: Fred B. Rothman & Co., 1991), 1 17.
72. Rachagan, “Unfair Trade Practices”: 270-72; Hsieh and Scammon, “Cultural and Economic Antecedents”: 74-76.
73. King and Gao, Consumer Protection, 56.
74. Zhongguo xiaofeizhe xiehui, ed., Zhongguo xiaofeizhe yundong shi nian, 52-53. An English version of the Charter is printed in King and Gao, Consumer Protection, 117-19.
75. For statistics on the number of associations in each year between 1984 and 1993, see Zhongguo xiaofeizhe xiehui, ed., Zhongguo xiaofeizhe yundong shi nian, 28.
76. Beijing Review, 6-12 May 1996.
77. Xinhua Beijing,1 September 1990, 20 December 1994; China Daily, 14 March 1998.
78. International Press Service, 9 September 1997.
79. Kaynak and Wikstrom, “Consumerism Issues”: 31-46.
80. Xinhua Beijing, 19 December 1997; Shichang bao, 18 March 1999.
81. Thorelli, “Consumer Problems,” 529-31.
82. For a listing of consumer publications (xiaofei baokan) established between 1984 and 1993, see Zhongguo xiaofeizhe xiehui, ed., Zhongguo xiaofeizhe yundong shi nian, 41-43. Of the 31 publications listed, the relevant consumers’ association or committee was the sole publisher of only fourteen and the joint publisher of ten. The remainder were published mostly by Bureaux of Industry and Commerce.
83. Xinhua Beijing, 8 March 1996.
84. China Daily, 9 March 1992 (cover page photo).
85. Renmin ribao, 10 March 1998.
86. Xinhua Beijing, 30 October 1999.
87. Xinhua Beijing, 7 May 1999.
88. See Rhee and Lee, “Consumer Activism,” 365-92; Singh, “Business Self-Regulation”: 1-33; Hsieh and Scammon, “Cultural and Economic Antecedents”: 61-78.
89. See Rachagan, “Unfair Trade Practices”: 255-76; Rahman, “Consumer Protection”: 349-62.
90. Norbert Reich, “Consumer Protection in Countries of Emerging Markets: The Example of Russia,” Journal of Consumer Policy 19, no. 1 (1996): 1-43.
91. Article 122, General Principles of the Civil Law of the People's Republic of China, promulgated on 12 April 1986 and effective as of 1 January 1987, translated in King and Gao, Consumer Protection, 137.
92. For a discussion of provincial and municipal regulations introduced before the national law, see King and Gao, Consumer Protection, 73-116.
93. Xie Cimao, ed., Xiaofeizhe baohufa tonglun, 504-13.
94. For an overview of law reform in post-Mao China, see Stanley B. Lubman ed., China's Legal Reforms (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996).
95. Individual titles included food, soft drink, restaurants, computers, tourism, cars, clothing, jewelry, medicine, furnishings and advertising. Guojia gongshang xingzheng guanli ju (State Administration for Industry and Commerce), Zhongguo xiaofeizhe shiyong congshu (Chinese Consumers Practical Use Series) (Beijing: Zhongguo renshi chubanshe, 1997).
96. See, for example, Rachagan, “Unfair Trade Practices”: 255-74; Rahman, “Consumer Protection”: 359-60.
97. Xinhua Beijing, 15 March 1999.
98. Shichang bao, 13 August 1999.
99. South China Morning Post, 30 March 1997.
100. Huasheng bao (Voice of China News), 1 1 December 1999.
101. See, for example, Perry Johansson, “White Skin, Large Breasts: Chinese Beauty Product Advertising as Cultural Discourse,” China Information 13, nos. 2/3 (1998-1999), 59-84; Beverley Hooper, “‘Flower Vase and Housewife’: Women in China's Consumer Society,” in Gender and Power in Affluent Asia, eds. Krishna Sen and Maila Stivens (London: Routledge, 1998), 167-193.
102. Huasheng bao, 10 December 1999; Yancheng wanbao, 30 November 1999.
103. Interview with Elizabeth Rosenthal, New York Times, 7 June 1998.
104. Xie Cimao, ed., Xiaofeizhe baohufa tonglun, 512.
105. Xinhua Beijing, 18 December 1995; Nanfang ribao, 19, 25 March 1999.
106. Dorinda Elliott, Newsweek, 1 April 1996.
107. Elizabeth Rosenthal, International Herald Tribune, 8 June 1998; Sangwon Suh and David Hsieh, Asiaweek, 18 October 1996; Uli Schmetzer, Chicago Tribune, 26 February 1996.
108. Xinhua Beijing, 18 December 1995.
109. Zhongguo qingnian bao (China Youth News), 17 June 1999.
110. For some examples, see Nanfang ribao, 19 and 25 March 1999.
111. Xinhua Beijing, 16 July 1999.
112. Beijing Review, 6-12 May 1996.
113. Nanfang ribao, 19 March 1999.
114. Shichang bao, 1 1 March 1988.
115. Nanfang ribao, 19 March 1999.
116. Shichang bao, 9 December 1998.
117. Zhongguo qingnian bao, 11 June 1999.
118. Nanfang ribao, 15 January 1999.
119. International Herald Tribune, 30 July 1996; Agence France Presse, 6 May 1996; International Press Service, 9 September 1997.
120. Xinhua Beijing, 7 May 1996; Zhonghua gongshang shibao (China Industry and Commerce Times), 1 April 1997.
121. Woodman, “Less Dressed Up”: 24-26.
122. Deborah S. Davis et al., Urban Spaces in Contemporary China: The Potential for Autonomy and Community in Post-Mao China (Washington: Cambridge University Press, 1995).
123. Chamberlain, “Civil Society”: 81.
124. Chamberlain, “Search for Civil Society”: 209.
125. On this general theme, see Richard Robison and David S.G. Goodman, “The New Rich in Asia: Affluence, Mobility and Power,” Pacific Review 5, no. 4 (1992): 83-84.