Made in China: Shengze guitars try to strike a chord overseas
[]
Top Chinese officials have talked extensively about improving manufacturing in China. One young man in east China is trying to carve out a niche in the market for electric guitars. Sean Callebs has more on his work to make it on the world stage.
Raw materials, handmade, in a guitar factory in the small town of Tangwu, about an hour's drive from Weifang in eastern China. It's all part of a well-crafted, ambitious dream. Production, that hopefully culminates with the sweet sound of success!
SEAN CALLEBS TANGWU, SHANDONG "And this is the finished product, it's called a Shengze guitar. It is not just made in China, but it is created here. It may sound like a subtle difference, but it is an important one."
The young man with a vision — is Jason Jia.
JASON JIA SHENGZE GUITAR "It's really really hard from the beginning."
It's not going to be easy to succeed in a crowded international market.
JASON JIA SHENGZE GUITAR "First thing you have to think, how to let people know the brand —not the sales product. So give them details about where I am from, and what are we doing."
Jia says his Shengze guitars fit in with President Xi Jinping's call to improve, and emphasize Chinese quality construction, as well as developing a homegrown brand. What's more — Jia says he is trying to get away from China's reputation of counterfeiting well-known US guitar brands, such as Fender and Gibson, Which he says hurt the consumer and legitimate businesses. Jia showed us back and forth legal documents from Gibson guitars, saying he is going to great lengths to show his instruments are not knock offs, rather a product he is proud of.
JASON JIA SHENGZE GUITAR "I don't want the people to think, the first impression, maybe you see some product made in China and that means bad quality."
Even though Shengze guitars are made in China, it is easier to find out about them, in nations like the US. Word of mouth is already spreading on the internet
The average guitar can be sold and shipped just about anywhere around the world for about 300-dollars.
Shengze is a fledgling company. Jia says he won't know if it will succeed for a couple of years. But, with a little luck, he hopes the product strikes the right chord with consumers. A guitar he boasts is dreamed-up, developed, and created —and made in China. Sean Callebs, CGTN, Tangwu.