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BEIJING: China insisted on Thursday more than 99 percent of its exports were safe as US toys giant Fisher-Price announced it was recalling nearly one million Chinese-produced toys over fears they might be toxic.
Commerce Minister Bo Xilai's reassurance was made public as concern seemed to be growing in Beijing over the potential fall-out from a slew of cases involving shoddily made and dangerous products made in China.
"More than 99 percent of the products China exports are of good quality and are safe," Bo said in a statement posted on his ministry's website.
"We hope that the relevant sides will handle Chinese products in an objective, fair and rational manner. This should not impact the normal development of trade."
He added that "China attaches great importance to the quality and safety of its products".
Bo made the remarks on Wednesday while meeting in Beijing with Mexico's Economy Minister Eduardo Sojo, the statement said.
Fisher-Price on Wednesday said it was recalling 967,000 toys including popular Sesame Street and Dora the Explorer-branded toys sold in United States stores between May and August this year.
"Paint on some of these products could contain lead in excess of permissible levels," the company stressed in an announcement.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission warned that "Consumers should immediately take the recalled toys away from children and contact Fisher-Price".
The recall covered around 80 types of toys, including playsets, toy vehicles, figures and musical instruments, many connected to the Nickelodeon children's TV network.
Fisher-Price, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc., said the items were produced by a single contract manufacturer in China but did not give the company's name or location.
"We realise that parents trust us with what is most precious to them – their children. And we also recognise that trust is earned," Mattel chairman and chief executive Robert Eckert said in a statement.
"Our goal is to correct this problem, improve our systems and maintain the trust of the families that have allowed us to be part of their lives by acting responsibly and quickly to address their concerns," he added.
In June US toy importer RC2 Corp recalled 1.5 million wooden toy trains which were also made in China and coated with lead paint.
The Fisher-Price recall comes amid increasing concern over health risks posed by food and other tainted products from China, including toothpaste and pet food.
Thousands of animals in the US were poisoned by pet food additives made in China, one of a series of incidents that have exposed lax controls in Beijing's quality control system.
China, the world's biggest maker of toys, said last month it would test each new product for safety risks before it could be manufactured and carry out random factory inspections and sample testing.
However, a ranking quality supervision official warned then that completely eliminating unsafe toy exports would be a challenge "because of the huge volume of goods involved".
China exported 17.8 billion dollars worth of toys in 2006.
- AFP/so
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