An event related to Kampo medicine held by "Ninhwa" hospital (taken on July 18, 2021, material photo).

[Touhou Shimpo] Earn profits just by giving brand names to products made by other manufacturers. Such a commercial law of "Muhonbanri (Millions of profits at zero cost)" is spreading in China. It is called a ``sticker'' business that simply puts the brand name on the product. A typical example of this is Nanjids.com, an underwear manufacturer that was established in the 1990s and was known for its heat-retaining underwear products. However, since 2008, it has changed to a business that only licenses brands without having factories or stores.On the online shop site, the products of the company's brand "Antarctic" are curtains, bedding, washing machines, water heaters, toys, and so on. Massage chairs, men's clothing, children's clothing, small home appliances, food, and so on are innumerable. In 2020, the sales of Antarctic e-commerce reached 4.172 billion yuan (about 74.42389 billion yen) and the net profit reached 1.188 billion yuan (about 21.2 billion yen). The person in charge of a consulting company that mediates the licensing process said, "The Antarctic brand approval fee is 4,000 yuan (approximately 71,360 yen), and if the tag with the brand name is a jacket, it costs 1.8 yuan (approximately 32 yen) per tag. , the price is fixed, such as 1.7 yuan (about 30 yen) for trousers." Renhe Group has been dubbed the “Antarctic man of medicine”. In addition to its main pharmaceutical business, it also develops cosmetics, health foods, disinfecting and sanitary products, etc., and provides the “Ninwa” brand to products made by other companies. Cooking appliance giant Joyoung is doing the same. From the point of view of a small, unknown manufacturer, rather than launching their own brand from scratch and running advertisements while competing with other companies, calling themselves a well-known brand is more likely to lead to stable sales and lower management risk. It is truly a commercial method that “takes the truth from the name”. Of course, the companies that license the brands can also make a profit without much effort. According to a report released in April by the China Toys and Baby Products Association, sales of licensed products in 2020 reached 110.6 billion yuan (approximately 1.9729 trillion yen), and product genres are diversifying year by year. On the other hand, some licensed toys, strollers, children's shoes, etc. do not come with warnings or instructions, or contain too many heavy metals. "Antarctic" products have also been blacklisted by local consumer associations many times, and the net profit of Antarctic e-commerce in the first half of this year decreased by 42.8 points year-on-year to 246 million yuan (about 43 million yuan). 88.37 million yen). Hao Xudong, a lawyer at Beijing Starzhu Law Firm, said, "Although the labeling business is not illegal, it is causing market confusion. Companies that grant brands are responsible for maintaining the quality of their products. We need to be careful in choosing which manufacturers to use,” he said. (c) Toho Shimpo/AFPBB News * "Toho Shimpo" is a Chinese-language newspaper first published in Japan in 1995.