Dubai: To Anna (not her real name), visiting China for business was a good opportunity to buy something special for her father and some high-end knock-offs for herself.

During our conversation at Shanghai airport, she explained how she bought a watch brand favoured by pilots for her father, usually worth Dh37,000 for around Dh100. She gets him more than one. During each China visit, she buys an imitation of an expensive bag, usually costing around Dh2,000 for around Dh100.

“I know the people at the shops I usually go to,” she said.

Any visitor to these markets would notice the number of tourists attracted to Chinese-made fakes. One visitor was asking staff at a shop if a watch her friend bought a year ago for nearly Dh50 could be fixed. “This is useless. Throw it away,” the salesman responded.

It is interesting to see how China has a global reputation for fakes among its other genuine achievements. Chinese counterfeits cost global businesses an estimated $20 billion (Dh73.4 billion) a year in profits.

While Chinese products enter every single field — from heavy industries to the tiniest of accessories — it also became one of the most interesting places for shoppers looking for real and fakes alike. It is up to the individual merchant, his culture and ethics to decide what he wants to sell.

Though illegal to violate the intellectual property laws in the world, many admit that buying a fake breaks down the barrier between the rich and the poor ... even if the sentiment lasts for just hours. There is that sense of satisfaction for those who cannot afford the extremely expensive original. Probably, achieving that sense of social equality could be more beneficial than going through all the efforts needed to track down those behind the counterfeit.

Most counterfeit items are sold in a discreet manner out of fear of the authorities. But the numbers seeking them out show how popular these fakes are. In a globalised world, it’s difficult to control the behaviour of customers.

Even the fakes themselves are classified according to the degree of counterfeiting skills. Some are “first-class” and others of lower quality. Some, might function for years. Another fun aspect in fake product shopping is that the seller defines the prices according to the country of the buyer. Chinese sellers are smart, and they will not set the same price on an item to somebody coming from a “rich” country and another from a developing country.

But it is not fair to say that China makes only counterfeits. All of the world’s top brands have boutiques in Shanghai, and they are selling well. The Chinese buy original products and foreigners buy fake items, as one Chinese woman put it. There are even foreigners who prefer originals.

On whether this extent of counterfeiting is affecting trade between China and UAE, Hisham Al Shirawi, Vice-chairperson of Dubai Chamber of Commerce replied with an emphatic “no”. There are certain bodies responsible to draft standards, specifications and regulations.

“Counterfeited products are an epidemic existing in the whole world and not only in China,” Shirawi said.

In the final analysis, it is up to the merchant, his culture and his ethics to sell products as they are. If they are genuine, they are sold as genuine, and if they are fakes, then that is how it will be.

While some people like the idea of buying fakes and enjoy using an “expensive product”, others preferences are for the “cheapest original affordable products” rather than something they know are not the real thing.

No one wins the argument — it is a personal choice, and each market has its customers. Maybe in China, it is the sheer experience of visiting one of the massive markets where the fakes are sold.

I still remember the words of a woman outside one of the big Chinese markets behind a museum. As I was waiting for the two western women to step out of a taxi, I wished them an enjoyable round of shopping.

“Nobody comes to the museum. People come to the market”,” one of them responded.