Chinese Imports Chipping Away at Local Pottery Industry

Made-in-China products have flooded the pottery market in Lalejin, an international hub for the craft in Hamedan Province, threatening to transform the industrial landscape of the city two years after it achieved formal recognition as the World Pottery Capital.
It has become an issue of grave concern for both local craftsmen and officials.
Mohammad Nasser Nikbakht, governor general of Hamedan Province, has been pushing for months to ban Chinese pottery from the city's market, but to no avail.
Ali Malmir, head of the provincial office of Iran's Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization, admitted that Chinese products are dominating Lalejin's market but said most of them have been imported legally and cannot be treated as contraband. 
"Although there are some reports by inspectors of smuggled goods discovered in stores' stocks, the majority of commodities in Lalejin's stores have been imported through official channels… It has weakened the hand of oversight bodies," Malmir said. 
"Had they been imported via illegal means, it would have been much easier to deal with them as contraband," IRNA quoted him as saying.