A Chinese government minister defended the safety and quality of goods made in China on Monday, following a series of health scandals connected to Chinese products.
"The Chinese government pays a great deal of attention to consumer safety. China is a responsible country when it comes to protecting consumers' health and security," said Li Chuanqing, a vice-minister of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.
We have worked hard to protect product quality and people's health," said Li, whose ministry is also in charge of ensuring the safety of the country's food exports.
Billions of dollars worth of counterfeit and substandard goods, from fake liquor and drugs to luxury handbags, are produced every year in China.
In one of the most highly publicized scandals, China revealed in 2004 that at least 13 babies had died from malnutrition in the impoverished eastern province of Anhui after being fed fake baby milk.
U.S. consumers have been worried by a spate of pet deaths blamed on tainted wheat gluten and rice protein exported from China, as well as reports of toxins and disease in other Chinese exports.
Li, while not directly addressing any of the recent cases, said that it was important China works closely with the rest of the world to ensure quality problems with its exports are dealt with properly.
"China is the world's largest exporter of consumer products," he said. "Our products are in every corner of the globe.
"Experience shows that international cooperation and exchanges are an effective way of appropriately solving global product safety problems in a timely manner," added Li, speaking at a forum organized by the International Consumer Product Health and Safety Organization.
As a measure perhaps of China's sensitivity to international criticism and its lack of transparency, security guards prevented foreign reporters from speaking to his colleague, vice-minister Wei Chuanzhong, who was at the same forum.
China's rickety system of food and medicine inspections has also flared as a domestic worry. In April, the ruling Communist Party's Politburo -- its inner council -- met to discuss strengthening controls.
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