Liu Mingkang speaks in a CPPCC workshop on March 5. [Photo/CFP]

Toilet lid spat

"I bought a toilet lid several days ago from Xidan (a shopping area in Beijing), at almost the same price as that in Japan, but it is not functioning well after a few days."

Liu Mingkang, former chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission, raised his own experience with a toilet lid during a CPPCC workshop on Thursday as many reports said that vast numbers of Chinese went to Japan to purchase toilet lids during the recent holidays.

This followed remarks by Premier Li Keqiang that Chinese entrepreneurs should aim to match the quality of foreign goods as China aims to upgrade its economy to higher-value products.