Foreign buyers hate Chinese fakes unless they're shopping

“If innovators fear that their inventions or ideas will be stolen, then one of two things will happen: They'll either stop inventing, or they'll decide to create their inventions elsewhere,” he said.

His speech focused on what China needed to do to combat piracy. Tougher laws and more crackdowns were needed, he said. His message: It was mostly China's problem.

But most of the shoppers strolling around the warren of tiny boutiques at the Guangzhou Baiyun World Leather Trading Center were foreigners. They were haggling and snapping up an eye-popping array of fake designer goods in the three-story mall, about a half-hour taxi ride away from the Canton Fair. Shops with names like Ladybug, Teli and QQ Bear were full of bags emblazoned with the Gucci, Coach and Prada logos.

In the mall's lobby, a special roped-off hospitality zone was set up for Canton Fair visitors. They sat on plastic chairs at tables covered in red cloth. Each had a candy dish full of fake peppermint Lifesaver candies. A nearby sign offered free translation services for the shoppers.

“Our business always picks up during the Canton Fair,” said a store owner whose business card only identified him as Mr. Chen. “The foreigners do like to buy knockoffs.”

One middle-aged man with a British accent marched into a store, pointed to a beige-checkered Louis Vuitton handbag and said excitedly, “That's the bag! That's the bag!” After a quick negotiation, he turned to a friend and said with a giggle, “They want 260 renminbi! That's only US$40!”

The shops place all the purchased goods in nondescript black plastic garbage bags that don't have store logos on them. The shoppers all look like they got lost while taking out the trash and ended up at the mall.

None of the customers or shopkeepers would give their full names because they didn't want any problems with the authorities. But fake goods were all displayed in the open, and in the mall's lobby, there were two huge signs with product quality slogans from the Industrial and Commercial Administration Bureau.

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