China defends exports

BEIJING -- China has launched a new campaign to restore international trust in its products with a weeklong television series defending the country's safety standards.

But new allegations of unsafe Chinese goods emerged Monday when New Zealand said it was investigating children's clothing found to contain dangerous levels of formaldehyde. The chemical is used to give clothes a permanent press effect and also as an embalming fluid and it can cause problems ranging from skin rashes to cancer.

The new television campaign titled "Believe in Made in China" follows discoveries of high levels of chemicals and toxins in a range of Chinese exports from toys to toothpaste and fish.

The first program in the series aired Sunday on China Central Television's economic channel and featured the head of a quality watchdog criticizing the recent furor over the quality of Chinese exports as "demonizing China's products."

"Personally, I believe it is new trend in trade protectionism. Although recalls are necessary, it is unfair to decide that all products made in China are unqualified," Li Changjiang, director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said on the 90-minute segment.

Li said his department was doing everything possible to monitor product quality, especially after recalls of millions of toys by Mattel Inc., the world's biggest toy maker, because of lead paint and small magnets that can be swallowed by children.

No injuries have been reported in last week's global recall of 19 million toys, including Barbie and "Sarge" cars based on the character from the movie "Cars."

"I'm here to tell you have faith in 'Made in China,'æ" Li told a group of foreign and Chinese executives and journalists invited to view the show.

The programs can be seen only in China and will feature interviews with Chinese producers and officials as well as foreign buyers and chambers of commerce, CCTV said on its Web site.

Monday's show, called "Back to the Source of Made in China" focused on exports including green tea, and had an official of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Beijing praising the finer points of a Chinese-made bicycle among other products. It was accompanied by rousing music, high-tech graphics and video clips.

The programs are the latest in China's recent push to prove both at home and abroad that it is taking strides to overcome its ongoing safety problems. But the frequent discoveries recently of potentially dangerous Chinese-made products have made that an uphill struggle.

In the latest scare, New Zealand's government ordered an investigation after scientists testing clothes for TV3's "Target" consumer watchdog program discovered formaldehyde concentrations up to 900 times above the safe level in wool and cotton clothes.

The television station says it will not release details of brand names or importers ahead of the show's airing on Tuesday.

A quality supervision agency official said the agency had to investigate the claim before confirming the details.

While China has speedily passed new regulations, issued a policy paper on food safety, and announced stepped up crackdowns and punishments, it has also insisted that the problems are isolated and that it is not the only country with quality issues.

China's quality supervision agency said Monday it had returned 272 "unqualified pacemakers" imported from the United States. The pacemakers, worth $236,000, were exported to Shanghai in April, the agency said on its Web site. The devices had an error of more than 2 percent on their pulse indexes, a number higher than that allowed by Chinese regulations, the agency said.

European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson on Monday denied that Europe's safety concerns were a politically motivated effort to protect its market.

"The allegation that European companies' action against toxic Chinese goods is politically motivated and shows bias against China is totally false," Mandelson said in Brussels. "This is not a question of trade, but of health."

Mandelson warned that the EU would contest any Chinese move to create a basis for retaliatory action.

Even before the Mattel recall, EU officials had asked China to report back regularly on what it was doing to improve toy safety. Close to half of all problem consumer products -- excluding food -- came from China last year, the EU said.