Chinese Construction Industry Products And Service Counterfeiting Problems And Countermeasures

At present, Chinese construction market is within the transaction period from planned economy to market economy. Since 1980s, the substantial increasing construction products demand provides developing opportunities to the construction industry, but that also creates many problems and challenges. Droved by economic interests, some companies violate professional ethics, which emerges the phenomenon of fabricate, sale, purchase and use of counterfeiting products and services. Counterfeiting products which do not meet customers'requirements impact the quality, performance and durability of project and potential threat the safety and health of user. Therefore, the increasing trend of counterfeiting phenomenon not only impacts the Chinese construction industry, but also hurts the reputation of China's construction enterprises in the international market, which does not meet the implementation of the "going out" strategy.The objectives of this research include understanding the awareness of counterfeiting, indentifying key factors that drive counterfeiting and recommending measures to mitigate counterfeiting. To achieve the objectives, this research took 18 months to collect data from all players in the construction chain. 70 interviews are completed in mainland China. Interviewees are from different construction-related enterprises and institutions, locating in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Hubei, Yunnan, Shanxi and Heilongjiang provinces and cities. Research investigated the perception of participators (the manufacturers, vendors, owners, government functional departments and third party verification institute) on counterfeiting, and then analyzed interviewees'experience and measures of anti-counterfeiting. Interviewed enterprises included state-owned enterprises, foreign enterprises, joint ventures and private enterprises; interviewed institutions included government inspection departments, industry associations and third-party verification organizations.The investigation shows that Chinese construction market is complex; the quality of products is varied; quality management within manufacture and using process is confusing. This article classified participators according to their roles in a supple chain. The driving factors of counterfeiting are identified. Research shows that economic profit is a major driving factor. In addition, the non-standard market competition, low-price bidding, project subcontracting, etc. are also influential factors of counterfeiting.Finally, the effective strategies and measures of anti-counterfeiting in current market environment are discussed. To prevent counterfeiting, government plays a very important role. Meanwhile, counterfeiting phenomenon can be mitigated within a wealthily growing market, which is created by all participators cooperatively.