Chinese Goods Flunk Gov't Safety Tests

Nearly 20% of domestic consumer products can't meet quality standards
By Dustin Lushing,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 4, 2007 3:08 PM CDT
Chinese Goods Flunk Gov't Safety Tests
A Chinese vendor works near his products at a market selling seafood in Beijing, China, Sunday, July 1, 2007. China called a U.S. block on its seafood 'indiscriminate' and 'unacceptable' and urged closer cooperation on food safety between the two trading partners, state media said Saturday. (AP Photo/Ng...   (Associated Press)

The Chinese government acknowledged today what people around the world suspected—many products manufactured by the world's largest exporter of consumer goods are unsafe. One-fifth of its manufactured wares fail to meet government safety standards, a regulatory agency said in a posting on its website. Despite the findings, which did not cover exports, spokesmen continue to tout Chinese product safety.

A survey of 7,200 types of products from 6,362 companies showed a rejection rate of nearly 19%, Bloomberg reports, compared to 5% in the US. Chinese manufacturers and regulators are already under fire for scandals surrounding everything from deadly pet food to tainted toothpaste; as the country's international profile rises even more, trading partners are pushing for beefed-up standards. (More China stories.)

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