Donald Trump ‘Make Your Company Great Again’ Buddha statue takes off in China

Some shops described the statue as ‘Dong (know it all) Buddha of the West’ and ‘Jianguo’, both nicknames given to Trump in China over his term

‘Does it really work if I place it at home?’ One potential buyer asked

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A Trump statue has caught on with China’s online shopping community. Picture: SCMP/agency

Published: 10:15pm, 10 Mar 2021Updated: 9:57am, 11 Mar 2021

Months after former US President Donald Trump stepped down from office, his influence still hangs over China’s internet.

Shops on Taobao, the largest e-commerce platform in China – operated by the Alibaba Group, which owns the South China Morning Post – still offer merchandise using Trump’s image.

The latest trend is a statue of Trump, sitting cross-legged and with his eyes closed in a Zen position, draped in a robe. The description says, “Make Your Company Great Again’’, a wordplay on Trump’s election slogan “Make America Great Again”.

The statue sells for as much as 999 yuan (US$153) in several shops.

Merchandise related to Trump sold on Taobao, a Chinese e-commerce website, include a Trump statue, Trump toilet brush, and T-shirts with a satirical Trump cartoon. Photo: Taobao

“Does it really work if I place it at home?” one potential buyer asked in a post on one of the shops.

China’s commercial websites have taken advantage of Trump to their profit. Previously, Taobao has offered an array of products, including toilet paper rolls with Trump’s face printed on them, a toilet brush shaped like Trump’s signature messy orange hair, and T-shirts printed with satirical cartoons of him.