What is the quality really like in these new Chinese Acoustics...

[SpruceTop]

I've recently purchased a Yamaha TranAcoustic (China), an Epiphone DR-500MCE (Indonesia), an Ovation Elite Plus Contour (Korea), and all these guitars are top-notch in quality of construction and sound really good. Jump in, the water's fine!

[whvick]

I have had a couple of the old first act guitars from years ago that I got for nothing and repaired to give away.
Then I came across some BlueRidge that
I thought we’re really nice and I should have got one back when the price was low
Next
I came across an Orpheum that Tacoma had built in Indonesia and bought on a going out of business sale. It is solid wood and although the finish is not perfect and the wood not book matched, it is more playable than my Martin D-15 and sounds better than my Taylor 414.
At the moment I tend to give all my playing to it and 50 year old Aria classical.
So not from China but dollar for dollar some of the Asian guitars can be real keepers.

[Ray175]

All countries (yes including the US) include manufacturers whose quality and quality control is "all over the place". The critical thing is to choose an instrument that meets your requirements at a quality level, for which you are prepared to pay the price which is being asked.
Even the boutique luthiers occasionally produce an instrument of 3k+ that over time turns out to be a bit of a dog. The better ones will do all they can to help you get the best out of the instrument (time consuming and expensive for them) - but you won't get this everywhere.
I have some excellent Japanese and Chinese instruments, some dating back to the early 1970s - so no need to be surprised that these countries have something of a history in crafting string instruments. After all, they've been doing it for more than a thousand years in one shape or form..... Can we say the same in the US or the UK?

[DaveKell]

I would think any culture that's 4,000 years old could've surely cultivated some capable craftsmen by now. The wages paid in a communist empire provide the much lower price point. The theft of design standards means in many cases the guitars are built just like they would be anyplace else on the planet.