Chinese Quality: GlaxoSmithKline

More evidence that China thinks this whole quality issue is just a PR problem:

China went on a charm offensive on Wednesday to convince a skeptical world its products are safe, as a new poll in the United States found 78 percent of Americans were worried about the safety of Chinese goods.

If there is one thing China doesn't do well it is charm. Having said that, I'm impressed that 22% of the US population aren't worried about Chinese products. Who are these people and why don't they read the newspaper?

The State Council, or cabinet, took a group of reporters on a carefully choreographed visit to sparkling pharmaceutical plants in Beijing's neighboring city of Tianjin, led by smiling, relaxed officials unusually happy to answer questions. "We hope that by inviting the foreign media here, you can use your own hands, mouths and eyes to represent what's really going on," said Yan Jiangying, deputy head of the State Food and Drug Administration's policy and regulations department.

Obviously Ms. Yan hasn't dealt with the foreign media before.

"So you can spread the message that you can believe in made-in-China. That's what we want," she told Reuters after a tour of a GlaxoSmithKline factory that exports to Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia.

Excellent PR move. Take reporters to the foreign-owned GlaxoSmithKline factory in order to demonstrate quality and safety. Ms. Yan, I think the quality concerns are related to Chinese factories. This is equivalent to President Ahmadinejad taking reporters to a plant in Syria and saying "see, we have no nuclear weapons in Iran".