Sure, there's a LOT of bad press about China. There's also a lot missing in the fact telling, or some folks hear only part of the message. The lead paint fiasco was, actually, the fault of the BRITISH manufacturer that failed in its quality control and in its specifications writing.
One really needs to spend a fair amount of time there and to travel in order to understand how and why things are done in China. The good news (in many respects), the country is catching up with the west in many ways. I did marketing work for a chemical company which was required to pass several DAILY stringent tests over the course of a year before its product could bear any industry seal of approval. Then, the company product underwent UL testing before it could find wide international use. This is frequently the case for an increasing number of industries.
As Milandro pointed out, China is now where Japan was in terms of manufacturing, quality assurance and control, (as well as global marketability) back in the early '60's. The RMB is still tied to the USD and greatly undervalued. This makes China a great place to manufacture things which would be too expensive to manufacture domestically. If anyone got a cr@ppy Chinese saxophone, it is because it was made to crappy specifications or the specs were circumvented to save time and money. Blame the importer, not the manufacturer.
Many components for our wide screen televisions are Chinese made. You'd never know it unless you open up the TV. Even then, there may be no indication of the place of origin. If anyone owns a Lenovo computer, he'll know that it is actually a great computer (as long as one runs American-made Windows XP rather than American-made Vista). It's made in China!
Sinophobes should consider stocking up on their favorite western-made saxophones soon before western saxophone manufacture becomes financially unfeasible and the western brand names begin manufacturing offshore to cut labor costs. That Paris Original may soon become a Baoding Original. (Perish the thought!).
AND NOW FOR AN OPPOSING VIEWPOINT:
China has Mr. Goodwrench. Really. But that is little incentive for one to go out and buy the Chinese-made Chery or the Jili when they hit the American shores. The Chery is a reverse-engineered Chevy which is just a little larger than a roller skate. It is a truly rotten little car which is plagued by (among other things) engine failure and persistent lawsuits initiated by General Motors and the Rollerskate Manufacturers' Association.
The Jili was dreamed up by a guy who has, well, dreams. The concept behind the car is that it will be an affordable luxury car on par with the Lexus. (Don't try to understand the concept. It's really beyond western comprehension and anyone who hasn't experienced an LSD trip anytime during the last thirty years. Similarly, the average Chinese is a bit baffled by the concept of luxury mixed with transportation).
In order to avoid the tech talk so prevalent in discussion of automobiles, I'll cut to the most important part of this proposed bundle of joy.
Does anyone remember Malcolm Bricklin? He produced that neato car with doors that swung up rather than out.
He was also behind the importation of the first anagram on wheels, the Fiat (Fix It Again, Tony).
He was also the mastermind behind the 75% green automobile. Remember the Yugo? It was the world's first mass-produced, entirely disposable, predominantly biodegradable automobile. That car had more cardboard in it than a fifth-grade science fair. A little-known fact about the Yugo was that Malcolm had help bringing this Eastern Bloc nightmare to the U.S.: Henry Kissinger.
Ol' Malcolm's back at it with the Jili, but now his partner is a famous lawyer. The automobile manufacturer's motto is : "Four Wheels Beats Three Anytime".
Just for the American market, one model is being produced in different colors. The left side will be painted white and the right side will be painted black so that there will be conflicting police reports. This was the idea of the Chinese designer with dreams.
Anyway, I thought that I'd present a balanced view of China's position in the Global Marketplace.