Recently in China, "youth eyeglass lenses," which are marketed to slow down the progression of worsening eyesight in growing children and provide more detailed myopia correction, have been selling at high prices.
A pair of eyeglass lenses costs 1,980 yuan, nearly 400,000 won in South Korean currency, yet parents have been easily opening their wallets.
However, it was revealed that these eyeglass lenses, touted for slowing down myopia progression, have minimal effectiveness and cost a mere 30 yuan to produce, or about 6,000 won in South Korean currency.
According to reports by China's CCTV, these youth eyeglass lenses—which were claimed to feature advanced micro-structure technology—were being traded for 30 yuan at the Danyang wholesale market in Jiangsu Province, and their functions and prices were nearly identical to those of regular myopia lenses.
The instruction manuals for the youth myopia correction lenses traded for 30 yuan at this location listed a consumer retail price of 1,980 yuan, amounting to around 400,000 won in South Korean currency.
Exorbitant profits reaching up to 66 times the cost were reaped through false and exaggerated advertising, and packaging swaps—where domestic lenses were disguised as expensive imported lenses right at the wholesale sites—were even taking place.
[Eyeglass Wholesaler: "I've seen instances where if you order 'Aishikang' (a Chinese-made youth lens), an employee from another store brings it over after putting that lens into Nikon packaging for imported products."]br />
It was also revealed that some wholesalers distributed non-standardized lenses, meaning products whose quality had not been verified.
Jiangsu Province's Danyang, which produces 400 million pairs of eyeglass lenses a year, is a region densely packed with China's largest eyeglass lens manufacturing plants and wholesalers.
The local municipal market supervision administration has launched an investigation, confirmed some of the facts including false advertising and excessive markups, and is proceeding with the punishment of distributors and further investigations.
(Video Editing: Kim Byung-jik, Footage provided by: China CCTV)
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