Made in China

Country of origin label

Made in China or Made in PRC is a country of origin label, often in English language, affixed to products wholly or partially made in the People's Republic of China (PRC). The label became prominent in the 1990s, when foreign companies based in the United States, Europe, and Asia moved their manufacturing operations to China due to China's low production costs of clothing, electronics, and other goods. "Made in China" eventually became associated with cheap, exploitable labor, churning out numerous mass market products of low quality. Goods "made in China", however, have been produced through supply chains that usually included multiple countries along the way.

The label was first widely used during the Japanese occupation of China in the Second Sino Japanese War, when Chinese civilians began to boycott Japanese made products. At the time, China's economy lacked a framework for effective industrialization. As such, boycotting foreign made products and buying domestic ones at that time became a way to put pressure on the Japanese economy under the so called "national salvation effort".

According to long term research published by European Central Bank in 2011, the quality of Chinese products exported to EU markets is high relative to other developing economies, even at low unit cost. The study challenged the assumption that low cost products from China are of low quality and suggested that the quality of Chinese products is similar to that of the most technologically advanced competitors and economies.