As attested by an increased number of duplicator imports, "inferior foreign electronic products" are on their way to pour into China's market.

On July 29 and August 14, related departments with the bureau accepted quarantine application cases for 470 secondhand monochrome Japanese duplicators. After a thorough inspection, some major problems were found out. First, the voltage of AC100V, 50/60Hz does not accord with the nation's safety standard of 220V; second is the anti-electric-shock category O I not permitted in China; third, due to a year's service history, some machines are left with worn-out parts, poor brightness of liquid crystal and lack of operation instructions; fourth is a miscellaneous collection, in over 10 brands and 20 sizes.

According to authoritative sources, such office facilities are generally regarded as trash with little value or worthless in most developed countries such as Japan, while enjoying a general demand in China's domestic market. Due to a relatively low cost, old duplicator has a price advantage over new ones on the way to yield some profits when imported.

This year, when the state adjusted policy on mechanical and electrical imports administration, has seen a large number of used electronic and electrical products including electrical household appliances, IT products and office facilities imported into the country. However, the majority of these products have approached the end of service life. Mass import of foreign inferior electronic products simply runs the risk for foreign electronic rubbish.

(People’s Daily October 23, 2002)