I agree that the Chinese have/had a spotty reputation. A friend in manufacturing once told me "The Chinese are really good at replicating 75% of the quality at 40% of the price". I think that's a pretty valid way of saying it.
I think it's fair to say that now in 2018, the Chinese have upped their game. I suspect, unlike 30 years ago, it's not safe to think "Made in China = junk".
When Japan began building their manufacturing industry it was criticized a lot (older readers will certainly remember the sorry reputation Japanese cars had in the sixties and seventies). But eventually they got better. China is following the same path.
At this point, I think you have to judge items made in China on a case-by-case basis. I've had good luck with the Chinese 4419s, YMMV.
Two things with Chinese manufacturing-- first off, they are notorious for making really good quality "pre-run" or "first run" batches of products. Essentially these are the products delivered for initial evaluation and testing. After the testing is done, or a contract is secured, the actual production run is usually of noticeably lesser quality. I have seen this with my own eyes when my dad was active in the wire and cable industry when I was growing up. I have travelled with him overseas on some of his business trips and witnessed first hand their ideas of manufacturing-- and don't get me started on the crappy conditions, lack of safety, lack of quality control, etc. But then again, that is how they can manage to undercut domestic manufacturing. Of course, between corporate greed and the consumer's general "buy cheapest" mindset, it is the death knell for quality.
I vividly remember a job my dad was sent on years back. There was a company called Komar Mfg. that used to be located in Altoona PA. They made power cords for black and decker appliances and Patrick, the owner, took pride in keeping that plant running like a swiss watch. They had very low q/c rejection rates and used quality materials. Then they lost out to Chinese manufacturing who undercut them so badly that they had to shut their doors. When my dad came out to oversee decommissioning of some of the machinery, Patrick talked with me and told me that B&D would rather buy a shipping container of cables from China, then subsequently scrap two thirds of them right out of the container due to q/c issues than buy from his company (where q/c rejection averaged less than one in 300 units)-- all because some bean counter said B&D could save an average of 5 cents per appliance. The irony is that the manufacturing equipment is being bought up and shipped overseas, further hurting us. (for those not familiar with the wire and cable industry, some of the manufacturing machinery is ancient-- it is not uncommon to have a machine that was initially built in the 1920's still in service (updated significantly of course, but the "carcass" is still very old). Once shipped overseas, its gone, and so went our capabilities with it.
Z