I would have to dig deep into my prior comments to find the source, but it was in response to my comment that GoPros don't seem to be a better user experience than the "cheap Chinese knock-offs" (direct quote). Then someone came along with a link pointing out that a GoPro is the cheap Chinese knock-off. They just silk screen their name on it.
EDIT: Found the original, no link, but should be easy to confirm: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12869304 Thanks, DDG!
The economics of buying from AliExpress/Alibaba can work out slightly differently than buying from a Western company that’s sourcing from China. Cutting out the middleman allows them to sell it at a price that I find cheap while they’re still able to capture far more profit than from a wholesale purchase. Potentially improving conditions vs if you bought the non-knock off.
Not to say that happens in every case. Nor as a broad comment on the conditions of factory work in China. But food for thought on the benefit of buying directly from Chinese companies.
Textiles and clothing are already starting to be made in India, Bangladesh, and Vietnam because Chinese factories are too expensive for simple manufacturing. Globalism ensures that "harm" will be exported from rich countries to the poor ones. The economic incentives are extremely powerful, and a handful of well-meaning people won't fix that.
What happened in China - and is currently happening - is that their industrial revolution occurred and they are now making increasingly better products with an increasingly more educated and skilled workforce, no different than what happened in the United States. As prices of labor and factories go up, the low-hanging fruit is exported elsewhere.
Check your - or your friend's, since you try not to buy clothing like this - Nike shirts and see where they are made. Anything new is likely not to be made in China.
The cycle continues.
But that's true for expensive cameras too.
For example, the LED light bulb market had such promise but now is flooded with cheaply made bulbs that are made with components that will fail before they should. The pollution cost to mine all the rare earth materials that go into these light bulbs are not reflected in their final cost, and in my opinion, they should be.
As for your prediction of shutdowns and seriousness of pollution, well, that remains to be seen. As someone who does import/export of goods in Chinese factories... I have my doubts.