Fact Check: Has China switched to 'Made in PRC' tag after #BoycottChineseProduct began trending in India?

Hyderabad: After a stand off between the Chinese and Indian troops in Ladakh, many Indians vowed to boycott Chinese products. TikTok, the Chinese video content creating app, also faced severe criticism and was uninstalled by many.

Amid this, a post has been going viral on social media that after Indians boycotted Chinese products, China has changed 'Made in China' to 'Made in PRC'(People's Republic of China) on the labels of its products. The tweet reads, "After boycott of Chinese products, Chinese have started using "Made in PRC '' (People's Republic of China) instead of Made in China. So be careful."

You can see the archived tweet here.

Same pictures were also shared on Facebook, with a different claim. The Facebook claim read, "Be aware just like China Virus mutates the Made in China now just got its new form PRC (People Republic of China). Please share and spread in all possible languages. No China Virus, No Made in China, No Made in PRC or People's Republic of China.

Fact Check: The image of the labels shows that the packaged date was September, 2019, which is before the movement for boycotting Chinese products began and the spread of Covid-19 in China.

While searching with keyword, 'Made in PRC' we found that similar product labels are being shared since last 3-4 years. We also found a Facebook post shared in 2017 which read, "Be careful! Made in PRC means Made in 'People's Republic of China', Don't buy!"

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What is PRC?

As a marketing tool, China changed the 'Made in China' tag to 'Made in PRC' as many associated Made in China with inferior quality product. Also People's Republic of China is the official name of China, hence they changed it in certain hardware products.

According to a news report by South China Morning Post, in the year 2015 the Chinese clothing brands sold in Japan changed their tag from Made in China to Made in PRC. This was to cover the origin of the clothing as the reputation of Chinese clothing was bad in the Japan Market.

Result: - The claim is partly true as the 'Made in PRC' tag is not fake, but it hasn't been changed after the outbreak of Coronavirus or the movement for boycotting Chinese products began in India.