Do you want an Omega or a Rolex? Man's style or lady's style? With or without gold plating?' The vendor in Shenzhen's Lo Wu City could not get the words out quickly enough as he unwrapped watches hidden in boxes below the counter.
When asked if they were made in Switzerland or China, he smiled and said they were made in China: 'That is our little secret.'
Two weeks ago Vice-Premier Wu Yi led a team of 320 officials to Shenzhen and other cities in Guangdong to combat sales of fake and low-quality products. But now business is booming as usual in the shopping mall, which is three minutes' walk from the Lo Wu railway station.
Plastered on the walls are slogans warning about fake products and the punishment for selling them. Some booths are empty, with paper seals over the doors reading 'Closed for three months', their operators having been caught selling counterfeits.
'Yes, the inspectors came and we locked the fakes away,' said Li Guo, selling fake Balenciaga and D&G handbags. 'When they left, we took them out again. We are used to these checks. We usually know in advance when they are coming.'
The heavily publicised visit by Ms Wu and her teams came between top-level meetings in Beijing with representatives from the European Commission and the US, both angry at rising trade deficits with the mainland and demanding a higher value for the yuan, a clampdown on fakes, protection of intellectual property and action on unsafe goods, especially food, toys and pharmaceuticals.
