Fake Nike Flooding: When Does Putian Counterfeit Shoe Processing Leave?

It is estimated that every 3 pairs of the world

In February this year, a Italy shopkeeper ordered 3000 pairs of white Nike Tiempo indoor soccer shoes at the shoe factory in Putian, Fujian.

The buyer is eager to wait for the goods, but no matter whether the Italy businessman or shoe factory owner Lin (the interviewee request, only surnames in the article), there is no authorization to produce Nike.

They should also have no design drawings or methods of production.

But Lin did not worry. He used to start from scratch.

A week later, Lin received a pair of real Tiempo.

He disassembled the shoes, studied the shoe models and stitches carefully, then drew out the design drawings and cloned 3000 pairs of Nike.

A month later, the shoes arrived in Italy.

"If all shoes are sold, he will come to order."

Lin said with assurance.

Lin spent most of his life on sports shoes, though he only had 5 years to imitate shoes.

"We produce according to orders."

He said, "if someone wants Nike, we will produce Nike."

In the mid 90s of last century,

"Authorized factories can't get in at all."

Lin said.

Because these licensed factories, security measures are very strict: guarding, monitoring cameras, and even the external walls have two.

"We buy double real shoes from the store and bring them back to paint the gourd."

According to the sales target, counterfeit shoes are also divided into many grades.

Putian's counterfeit shoes are mainly exported.

According to last year's US financial year report, the US customs frontier defense Bureau seized more than $260 million worth of counterfeit goods.

These counterfeit products include thermal underwear, DVD, computer accessories, brake pads, infant formula milk powder and so on.

For 4 years, counterfeit shoes were the most popular.

Last year, for example, it accounted for 40% of the goods seized, of which Nike was the most counterfeited brand.

Second only to counterfeit shoes are all kinds of counterfeit appliances, accounting for 12%.

One Nike employee estimated that 1 out of every 3 pairs of Nike were fake.

But Peter Khloe, Nike's global legal adviser in brand litigation, said: "it's almost impossible to calculate the number of fake shoes."

Lin's factory has 5 floors, and the front is a brown metal door.

In noisy factories, some workers are making shoes, brushing up the upper, or decorating almost finished shoes.

The boxes with Nike and Adidas are stacked in the corner, and the other corner is the box of ascension.

On the wall of the factory gate, there is a notice for recruitment: "recruit skilled sewing workers".

Although counterfeiting is an industry of profiteering, like Bolivia's coca farmers and Golden Triangle's opium growers, Lin can't earn a lot of money and profits from those behind the scenes.

Like the smuggling suspect captured by FBI last year, its industry involves smuggling of cocaine, heroin, cannabis, oxycodone, steroids and counterfeit shoes in New York and New Jersey.

Dean Phillips, director of FBI's crime investigation in Asia and Africa, described counterfeiting as a "cunning move" for criminals because profits were punishing rather lightly.

An expert from Interpol said, "if a container of counterfeit shoes was found, the goods were confiscated and the customs office was on record.

If it is 3 kilograms of heroin, the sentence is 4 to 6 years' imprisonment. "

In September 2007, the New York police seized 291699 pairs of fake Nike from Broolyn's two warehouses, which were originally pported from New York to Buffalo, Rochester, Pittsburgh, Dallas, Milwaukee, Chicago, Newark, and portage.

The immigration and customs enforcement agency, the New York police station, the New York police station, and the Niagara Falls police station were involved in the operation.

An official of the immigration and customs administration said that the market price of the goods exceeded 31 million US dollars.

"The customs declaration documents are all fake, and the goods may come from Putian."

The official wrote in an e-mail reply.

After visiting the production line, Lin came to the office of the top floor and made a pot of green tea.

Then he went downstairs and collected 3 samples of shoes, including 1 fake Nike Tiempo, with the blue pen on the side of the shoes, the date and the signature of the merchant of Italy.

I noticed that the label on the tongue was printed with "made in Vietnam".

"These are all pretence."

Lin said, "the grade of counterfeit shoes is very different. The quality inspection difference can be seen at a glance. There is not much difference between good quality and real goods.

The smell of shoe glue is the only difference. "

How many counterfeit shoes are on the shelves in China, the United States, Italy or anywhere else? Companies that I have contacted do not want to talk about it too much.

For them, the best way is to avoid talking.

Peter Hafiri, who runs a risk consulting firm in Beijing, explains: "if the idea of counterfeit goods spread around the market, consumers will doubt all shoes."

How does counterfeit change the bottom line of a legitimate company? A senior sports brand salesperson gave the answer: "fake is the basic fact of the market. Do they break our sales? Maybe not.

Is this fact frustrating? Of course.

We just want to be flattered. "

Maybe this is also a training mode.

Because in Putian, Lin told the writer what his real dream was.

"Making counterfeit shoes is only a pitional choice.

We are developing our own brand.

In the future, we want to produce our own brand and win our reputation. "

Lin's objectives are consistent with the Chinese government's policy of combating counterfeiting commodities.

I hope their skills will eventually produce real brands.

But at present, the counterfeiting industry in Putian is almost an open secret.

Entering the word "Putian Nike" in search engines will jump out of hundreds of results.

Putian sports shoes are "famous" on several well-known business websites.

"Those who sell fake products have no scruples," said Hurley Levin, an intellectual property lawyer. "They didn't want to reveal their identity in the past, but finding them now is just a piece of cake."

In the center of Putian, there are many shops on students' streets, and many shops sell counterfeit tennis shoes.

I spent the afternoon there, and the shops were decorated in a variety of ways.

The author took a pair of black Nike from the shelf, checked it over and over, and stitched the needle and smell the glue, but it really couldn't smell the bad glue.

The price of these shoes is about $12, and quality inspection seems to be no different from the US $85 purchase.

"I can't tell the truth right away," said Berman, deputy director of the center for intellectual property coordination.

A person who has trained himself to be a piercing eye can not do so, let alone a non professional man.

Looking at the shoes, a more than 30 year old woman came up and asked, "do you want to buy shoes or shoes?" her husband sat next to him, facing a large computer monitor.

Their little daughter is playing another computer.

This shop also does wholesale business.

The landlady said she also runs a factory.

They are looking for sales agents to get through the western market.

"If you order a large quantity, we can give you a discount."

I asked her, "how long does it take to produce 2000 pairs of shoes?" she said, "after receiving the shoe mold, it takes only one month."

Her husband promised that the shoes were of the highest quality.

"We use exactly the same materials as real goods, and Putian can get the best materials."

"How do I go through the US customs?" "goods will not leave Putian."

Her husband said, "we deliver from Hongkong. Don't worry."

A week later, I went to Hongkong to see Ted Kawaras, a secret agent.

His mission is to investigate fake factories and distribution networks.

"7 years ago, exporting from China was still a very troublesome business.

Because the Internet was not popular enough at that time.

At that time, most export goods were monitored by state-run companies, and it was easy to monitor them.

But now almost completely let go.

There are about 800 surveys he takes annually, ranging from sneakers to watches and oil pumps.

What will the future of the counterfeit industry look like in the eyes of kneed?

"This is a protracted war."

He said.

"Is it like a war of drugs? Is it endless?" I asked.

"The two are different."

He smiled and showed a pair of white false teeth.

"I think war is the same, but the battlefield has changed.

More and more processing sites are being pferred to Vietnam, and there are also in Columbia. Although those places are still a bit messy, they can become internationalized.

That is to say, more and more agents will be sent out to invest more and more funds in investigating counterfeit shoes that even experts are hard to distinguish.