Perhaps that speaks more to the culture/strategy of Wal-Mart, and the mentality of people who shop for goods there at outlets abroad.

But Wal-Mart is not the only purchaser of Chinese goods. And not all Chinese goods are consumer-oriented nor even destined for retail trade. In my profession, I deal strictly with commercial/industrial products which need to perform--as in safety of a lot of people can be on the line if something fails. When safety is not an issue, economic cost of replacing substandard products (and installation) is always a threat. And it is definitely a challenge in many categories, to find Chinese-made products of suitable quality. For many types of products, turning to specific foreign joint-venture factories and/or going imported is currently the only reliable strategy.

In keeping with issues of Flyertalk direct interest (and to another post above), China is producing a commercial aircraft--this is an industry they BADLY want to get into in a big way. So far, the aircraft is primarily destined for the domestic market, with some for export to developing countries. However, in the coming years it should be easy to avoid these in favor of Boeings and Buses on the flight schedules, if one is alert. I'm not so thrilled with the thoughts that certain parts are being produced in China for Airbus and Boeing, and airlines are outsourcing maintenance to China.