The nice thing with a Russian SKS is that they are ALL military surplus, made to military grade. Not so with the Chinese SKSs. The Chinese SKS are a mix of milsurp rifles, rifles produced strictly for the commercial market, and some that are a hybrid (military parts reconfigured for the commercial market).
As for the Russian one's being refurbed... who cares? I recently bought both a Russian refurb, and Russian non-refurbed, and I can tell you that although the non-refurbs are fantastic collectible pieces, at the point in time where you actually buy an SKS, the non-refurbs sometimes don't look as great as the ones that have been through refurb, simply because all things deteriorate through time, even just in storage.
Some other things to consider:
- Russian SKSs are all type 45, built (mostly) between 1949-55/56. The first prototypes were built in 1945, thus the type 45.
- Chiniese SKS come in a greater variety of types, starting from type 56 (Russians turned over production to Chinese in 1956). So better variety with the Chinese SKSs.
- Most of the SKS in the world are Chinese. Might be a factor in collectible value in the future, with less produced versions gaining (or maintaining) value better.