A local vendor told me today to stay far away from wood milled in China, and even advised to be cautious about buying wood from USA. He claimed wood grown in high altitudes or colder temperatures, like that in Canada produces superiour hardwood.

This is not intended to be a what is the best country thread, please be respectful but I am interested in what your thoughts are to wood from different countries. Should I absolutely stay away from China, or is it worth the risk given price is lower?

Thanks for your thoughts

IMO, the quality control of Chinese imports does not measure up to the quality of the better N. American brands. The Chinese imports have gotten better but one still takes a risk using them. Both Canada and the USA, along with a few European countries, produce the finest flooring in the world. But all floor manufacturers have various products for different price ranges. I do not buy the "Canadian wood is harder than American wood". I've used both and see no major differences in the raw lumber. I buy American because that is where I live and that is what my distributors typically stock.

I dont think climate has anything to do with the hardness of the wood, per se. The woods coming out of the Amazon Basin are much harder than most North American woods, even though they grow in a tropical climate.
Now, Red oak is harder as you go farther north but most of the Oak being used today comes from areas like Wisconsin which has a similar climate to the region of Canada where the oak grows, so no substantial difference in hardness there.
But rather than dwell on the woods hardness, which is relatively unimportant, consider the milling of the product and the grade standard you want as being more significant.