Click to listen to the audio version of this Daily Paradox.

China does not need exploding water melons. The diagnosis that chemicals used to precipitate their growth are the likely cause of the latest ‘poorly made in China’ episode will do nothing to improve the image of the world’s fastest developing economy.

Post WWII Japan, then Hong Kong, then Korea went through the stages of low quality products. All survived, learnt the lesson and their products today are of a generally high standard. However, China is increasingly responsible for producing everything from computers to vegetables so much more cheaply than the rest of the world that they have the price edge. As long as people think something is “cheap” they will buy it. Until they learn that it may kill or harm them.

China has 1.3 billion people, some of whom are desperately poor and some unbelievably rich; it represents a microcosm of the whole world. The rural poor are faced with starvation and loss of drinkable water, causing a migration to the cities at a pace that the government must find almost impossible to handle.

So, on the one hand you have people whose next meal is uncertain. They cannot be blamed for producing to any quality if doing so provides for their families for another week. On the other hand you have a group totally unused to money finding itself with more than it had ever dreamt possible. The problems of the nouveau riche (newly rich) are well documented. Handling money is a better problem than handling starvation, but it is still extremely difficult. Add a culture of corruption so deep that to modify it may take decades and you have the potential for a major disaster.

What is there to see on the bright side?

Thanks to the internet it is now impossible to deny exploding water melons, or any other life or health threatening event. We are warned early. Even the poor in China get to see the internet and while their vision is clouded by imminent necessity they are not stupid. The can learn the lessons of Japan, Hong Kong and Korea very quickly.

Can the rest of us help?

Open analysis of China-made products and published results of it plus a willingness to pay for demonstrably better quality would make the transition from cheap and dangerous to cheap and reliable faster.

Insistence on better quality by promoting longer and more executable warranties made the responsibility of the retailer would be a good start. Good companies like TESCO and many other food retailers already understand their part in quality assurance. Unfortunately hardware and computer software retailers do not. They should be made to. They are our conduit to the manufacturer and their responsibility does not stop at sourcing product. They must be responsible for what they sell us.

We must tell them that. Caveat seller, not caveat emptor.