I take your point. In the '80s, dealers and consumers were quick to call all Japanese saws "Jap crap" but the Husqvarna marketing guys would say, "Look at this Echo. They've got the quality. If they can get the weight down and the power up, they'll be real competition."
Today, the low end of the market is flooded with Chinese-made Zenoah copies (which themselves were based on proven Husqvarna and Stihl concepts) however, we must be careful not to "tar" all Chinese-made product with the "brush" of obviously inferior examples.
Superior examples? At least in the homeowner class, I'd suggest Chinese-sourced Dolmar & Homelite from personal observation. From hearsay, Efco.