The craze for Japanese products, to certain extent, does reflect the noticeable difference between products "made in China" and those "made in Japan". And even though the difference may be narrowing at a healthy speed, Chinese manufacturers still have a lot to learn from their Japanese counterparts in terms of advanced technologies, exquisite workmanship and user-friendly functions in consumer products.

Still, this does not fully explain Chinese tourists' craze for shopping for gadgets, appliances and other products abroad. Despite being an important part of overseas travel, shopping makes sense if a person buys commodities that are not or rarely available in his/her own country. But there is hardly any consumer product that is available in Japan today but cannot be found in China.

The increasing number of overseas visits by and the shopping spree of Chinese nationals have been playing a vital role in building mutual understanding between the peoples of China and other countries. In 2014 alone, more than 100 million Chinese traveled abroad. This expanding scale of people-to-people exchanges have the potential to economically and culturally contribute to China's diplomacy.

Moreover, shopping for goods in foreign countries one visits is better than buying them at home, because being imported after paying high tariffs the same products cost much more in China. Therefore, Chinese tourists who are obsessed with Japanese electronic and electrical goods and buy them during their visit to that country cannot be faulted either on political or economic grounds. At best, the craze to buy Japanese products can be said to be a trend, rather than irrational consumption.

The author is deputy secretary general, Beijing Tourism Academy.

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