AS Tanzania grapples with increased trade in substandard goods, China has asked African regulatory authorities and security organs to tighten security at entry points to curb the proliferation of counterfeits.
The call comes amid growing concerns on phoney goods flooding the African markets, with China featuring on the list of nations that supply the substandard merchandise. Director General of African Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dai Bing, speaking to African journalists here, said the Asian nation fully supports efforts aimed at freeing the African markets from fake products.
Mr Dai made it clear that the Chinese government neither manufactures nor supports any unscrupulous trader dealing in the evil practices. He said he has learnt about the illegal business with great concerns and the Chinese government is upset with information that implicates the country, which is among the world's science and technological powerhouses, in fake products.
The Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI) in its last year report on the state of counterfeits in the country, indicates that Tanzania and Kenya, due to their geographical location, suffer higher levels of bogus goods than the other East African Community (EAC) member states.
According to the report, majority of the imported fake products, about 80 per cent, enter the country through the port of Dar es Salaam and to a lesser extent through Tanga and Mbeya, while entry via Zanzibar is also widespread.
Mr Dai said the mentality was gravely tarnishing Chinese image, pointing out that the country will never engage in exportation of substandard products to any part of the world. He affirmed that in most cases, African traders were responsible for importation of substandard goods as a number of them go for cheap price at the expense of quality.
On the other hand, headmitted that there are some dishonest Chinese nationals who collude with their African counterparts to smuggle counterfeit goods into the African markets. "Sincerely, Chinese government cannot export any substandard product to Africa or any other country.
Our governments must work together to address this problem as it damages the image of China," he noted. Mr Dai called on African governments to strictly take serious control measures to ensure that their traders do not take in substandard goods, insisting that as the main trading partner with Africa, China was careful about what it exports
. "Our trading partnership is built on friendship, brotherhood and sincerity...we need to work together to iron out anything that is likely to jeopardize the partnership," he said. He explained that China, being a big and populous nation, it's equally a high demanding task to control all that is being shipped out. Mr Dai maintained that strong measures, strict regulations and cooperation between China and African nations were vital in the war against counterfeit products.
