Is China Another Japan?

These very different nations have both benefited from government support of quality.

What do you think of when you hear or read about China? These days we think of cheap imports, product safety issues, growing economic clout, and uncertainty about our future relationship.

It wasn’t always this way. When I was a kid, we used to think of China as the “Red Menace.” It was a closed, exotic society that could barely feed its own people. When Nixon visited China, it was a global sensation .

Now, more than 30 years later, our view of China is totally different but still laced with fear and trepidation. It’s interesting to compare our feelings toward China with those of the other Asian giant: Japan.

Thirty years ago, we were scared of Japan, too. It was around then that Japan began to flood the U.S. market with high-quality products. The 1980 NBC documentary “If Japan Can, Why Can’t We?” shed light on Japanese quality practices and made W. Edwards Deming a star .

We Westerners gobbled up all the Japanese quality-related stuff we could get our hands on. We implemented quality circle programs, and senior executives from U.S. manufacturers let Deming bully them in his famous four-day seminars. We started eating sushi and even listened to Japanese-inspired pop music. (Admit it, you boogied to “Mr. Roboto.”)

The Japanese worried about our reaction to their success. During World War II Japan’s Admiral Yamamoto said, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant.” Perhaps because we defeated the Japanese in war, their approach to trading with us was cautious. They did not want to reawaken the sleeping giant.

The Chinese trade situation today is similar. We are again being flooded with cheap goods and there are some healthy helpings of fear, skepticism, and cynicism on both sides. China and Japan basically started their manufacturing processes from scratch. Japan had to rebuild its industrial base after World War II, and China had to rebuild--some would say begin to build--its industrial base after its embrace of capitalism.

But there are also striking differences. Despite decades of communist rule, the Chinese people are more open and accepting of Western ways than the Japanese. The sheer number of Chinese--about 1.3 billion, most of whom live at levels of poverty never experienced by the Japanese--cannot be ignored. But perhaps the biggest difference is the way in which the two nations have embraced product quality and safety.

Japan had the luxury of taking its time to develop its systems and processes. Although Japanese products were largely dismissed as cheap and shoddy until the 1970s, Japan was eventually able to win a large share of our market with its own brands of high-quality electronics and automobiles.

China is poised to become an even more dominant player in the global market. Its automobile industry is about to begin selling vehicles in the United States and Europe under its own brands and U.S. brands as well.

China has begun to seriously address c oncerns about product quality and safety. This is a nation that understands how to use its national resources in its own interests. In a December 11, 2007, editorial in The Wall Street Journal, Wu Yi, the vice premier of China, writes that the Chinese government has embarked on a four-month-long nationwide program to improve product quality and safety.

“We aim to both resolve major product quality and safety problems, and put in place a supervision mechanism that monitors the whole production process from product design to the delivery of raw materials, production and processing, product sales and after-sale service,” Wu wrote. “We are also working to install a product quality and safety tracking and accountability system and a national product quality-monitoring network.”

Wu continues, “Twenty specific targets have been set, and both the central government authorities and local governments are required to make sure that these targets are met by manufacturers and businesses. The Chinese government has issued special regulations that clearly define the respective responsibilities of producers and businesses, government regulatory authorities, and local governments. The latter two bodies are required to enforce laws rigorously to punish violations of product quality and safety.”

Japan also understood the need to improve its product quality. Following World War II, Japan formed the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to help rebuild its manufacturing sector. Many credit this agency and the government’s role in helping to drive industry for Japan’s success.

Will China’s success finally awaken the sleeping giant? I fear not--not unless the U.S. government takes an active role in helping to grow U.S. business. I’m not advocating tariffs or restricted trade, but I do believe that the government should help U.S. business (and help save U.S. jobs) by giving tax breaks, tax credits, and other incentives to business for keeping manufacturing here. The government should also actively promote the importance of quality.

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About the author
Scott M. Paton is Quality Digest’s editor at large.