Xi Jinping and wife Peng Liyuan bid Tanzania farewell before boarding a plane to South Africa for the next leg of Xi’s state visits on March 25. Photo: ifeng.com" src="http://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2011/865c6083-f76e-4f0e-bfe0-1fd17d985b42.jpeg">

 Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan has promoted China's clothing industry to an amazing degree.

The "first lady effect" has even driven up the share prices of domestic clothing brands. Public opinions on the clothing industry have also changed almost overnight. These have sent clear signals.

China's manufacturing industry has a solid foundation, and the production capacity of China's clothing industry is incomparable internationally.

But Chinese clothing brands have a weak reputation and Chinese people tend to follow Western brands. Peng, as the first lady, wears domestic brands and walks on a global stage, bringing the potential of Chinese brands to the forefront.

These positive sentiments are likely to spread to other industries, making it a turning point in terms of brand-building in China's manufacturing industry.

Peng's personal life experiences and status as the first lady grant her special appeal. But we cannot simply count on her to change the destiny of China's manufacturing industry. These changes won't come easily.

China has already become the world's largest auto production market. Having its own auto brands is no longer a dream. But as most of China's upper class drive foreign brand cars, the prospects of domestic brands still aren't promising.

Increasing opportunities for domestic brands will require both efforts from Chinese manufacturers and public support. Hongqi cars used to have huge support from China's leadership, but the influence of this brand has not expanded and it gave way to foreign brands.

Today, we have high expectations toward domestic car brands because China's production technologies and service levels are globally competitive.

In a broader sense, Chinese people's confidence in their culture, including politics, is more or less related with their confidence in domestic brands.

Social elites should contribute to promoting China's brand-building efforts. Many of them are the first followers of foreign brands. Now they should dispense with their adoration of foreign brands earlier than ordinary people. Chinese, especially elites, should feel ashamed when they look at how Japanese and South Koreans support their own brands.

China should have a broad mind and embrace foreign brands. But this doesn't mean we don't need to have our own decent brands and could only rely on foreign ones.

China's first lady has brought awareness from Chinese society toward its own brands.

To some point, China's modernization process is also a process in which we should no longer feel inferior toward our own brands and culture.

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