'Made in China' well received in Israel

JERUSALEM -- "Most of our products, including strollers, carriages, toys and even clothes, are made in China, and they are all safe," said Tal Levy, a store manager of Shilav, the leading retail chain of baby supply and preschool products in Israel.

Colorful baby products with "Made-in-China" label are displayed at the Shilav store located in Talpiot area of Jerusalem, which provides "one-stop" service for parents.

Levy believes that so long as the inspection standard is firmly kept, products from China can be of good quality and safe for children.

"Chinese goods are very popular in Israel," said Aviya Benjamini, a girl working at a commodity store in Jerusalem, adding that "People don't differentiate things made in China from those made elsewhere."

Nawaf Eideres, a shop owner in the Old City of Jerusalem, was very satisfied with his "good and low-priced" souvenirs made in China. He said that quality of these products depends on the buyer’s order.

"Chinese factories produce goods according to your orders and the price," said Eideres, pointing at a dangle-dolly and saying that "you can ask them to make this at 10 Shekels or at 20 Shekels but with better quality."

As China's economic growth continues and technology develops, not only "Made in China" products are sold all over the world, but also some Chinese local brand goods.

"In Israel, Haier is becoming a big name," said a salesman in a Jerusalem store of Best Buy, one of Israel's leading retailers for high-quality electronics and household appliances.

"We have TVs, washing machines, dishwashers and many things from Haier. Before Israeli people only know about Toshiba, LG, Samsung etc., but now they begin to buy Haier. These things have good quality," he said.

According to Chinese official statistics, Chinese exports to Israel rose 31.1 percent in 2006 to $2.56 billion. China's trade with Israel is expected to expand to $5 billion by 2008 and to reach as much as $10 billion by 2010.

Of the total imports from China in 2006, 28.2 percent were high- tech equipment, machinery and electrical equipment, surpassing those of textiles, which stood at 24.2 percent, according to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics.

The quality of made-in-China products has been significantly improved in the past few years, Chairman of Israel-China and Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce Amos Yudan said.

He added that the good quality and reasonable price of Chinese goods will help boost imports to Israel in the future.