Recent media reports have shown Chinese ginger producers exporting their highest-quality crops overseas, while leaving lower-grade roots for sale in the domestic market.

This sort of practice among ginger suppliers is just the opposite of what is common overseas, where producers generally hold on to their best products for local markets.

This bias against Chinese shoppers comes back to the country's shoddy supervision over the quality of  consumer products. Loose regulations and poor implementation have given domestic suppliers major incentives to off-load their junk ginger on Chinese buyers. At the same time, local growers are allowed to choose their own product batches for inspection by food safety authorities, meaning that problematic and unsafe goods are rarely uncovered.

Meanwhile, the stringent policies and random inspections commonly seen across most Western countries mean that Chinese growers can only sell their best products in these markets.

The author is Shu Shengxiang, a media personality.

Source: Southern Metropolis Daily