Sales of Malaysian products normal in China despite boycott call – Bernama
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sales of Malaysian products in China, particularly food and beverage (F&B) products, remain normal despite calls by Chinese netizens to boycott them following the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370.
A Malaysian importer of various products here, Loh Wee Keng, said the sales of F&B products were normal, especially in southern parts of China, such as Shanghai, Hangzhou and Guangzhou.
"We have our products at various shopping malls in China and the sales in southern parts of China remain normal. Only the products in some northern areas were slightly affected the fortnight after the incident.
"Currently, everything is going back to normal, as most of the consumers here remain rational about the incident," he told Bernama in Beijing today.
Loh, who is also the General Manager of Regal Plus (China) Co Ltd, said promotional activities for Malaysian products would proceed as scheduled.
"Like what we have planned earlier, a summer promotional exhibition, which mostly promotes Malaysian products, will be carried out at Beijing Parkson Taiyanggong branch in May," he said.
Meanwhile, Nyonya Kitchen restaurant owner, Lee Pingping, said the MH370 incident did not have much impact on her restaurant.
Lee said she was not aware that some netizens had urged the boycott of Malaysian products.
"Maybe our restaurant is located at Guomao (the heart of the Beijing's Central Business District), therefore, we can see people are still lining up for lunch," she said.
Last month, some Chinese online users called for an anti-Malaysia campaign on China's Twitter-like Weibo amid the ongoing massive search efforts for flight MH370.
Everything related to Malaysia, including Malaysian celebrities, such as Fish Leong and Shila Amzah, who were popular in China, had also been blasted by the netizens.
However, China's state-owned English-language newspaper, China Daily, has appealed to the families of passengers on board the missing aircraft "not to let their anger prevail over facts and rationality", no matter how distressed they were.
In an opinion piece headlined "Treat MH370 Tragedy Rationally", the daily said relatives of the victims and public opinions should comply with the fundamental norms of a civilised society.
The hunt for flight MH370 has entered its second month since it went missing on March 8.
The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200, which carried 239 passengers and crew on board, with two-thirds from China, should have landed in the capital of China at 6.30am on the same day. – Bernama, April 16, 2014.
