@Heavyarms55 I just wanted to mention it, because from my experience of working many years in a different country (you guessed it, China!) I know that the things one says and the thing one means can be quite different just because of the language barrier I´m already quite confident in speaking English, but of course there might the things I say which can have a strange tone for a native speaker, but I never intended it to be strange

Back to topic: Sure, copying has a long history in China which might have many reasons (which I don´t all know!). One reason could be the lack of availability. If a company is either not willing or not allowed to sell their products in China, then you open up the market for copies... Another aspect is, what user "konbinilife" said above: Copying in China, as stupid as it might sound, is also a way of showing respect. You only copy what is good! But this is a very historic point of view, yet it is still deep in the Chinese mindset. Fun fact: The verb "to study" in Chinese 学习 (Xue Xi) means literally "to learn from" or "to imitate". Learning is, you as a teacher will know that, copying after all (I´m not talking about copying homework ). Advancing and making something by your own is the enxt step, but you first need the basis, which is always copying (language, science, technology etc.).

For the rip-offs of modern consoles, it´s the lack of alternatives again. If Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo would sell their stuff officially in China, they would have the IP protection by law. There was the video game ban for many years, yes, and today it might be the rule to join forces with a local company (e.g. Tencent) to join the market. But I´m sure, longterm it is worth it!

From my experience of working many years in the automotive indutry in China, there a lot of top notch companies, which are very realiable and trustworthy. You will always have black sheeps and the pure number of black sheeps might be higher in China, but the % might be the same like in western countries. It´s also important to know, that the Chinese Goverment is not backing up their own companies anymore no matter what. They also let the market decide who lives or dies.

Also I want to mention the customers again: I guess you read the news about the outrage of fans at ChinaJoy because of a "Zelda BotW"-like game from Sony. The masses/consumers have an unbelivable power in China. If they decide to boycot a product, it can mean the death of a company. The consumer is certainly influenced by the goverment, but the final decision and power lies within the customers hand.