China Under Scrutiny

Meglena Kuneva, the EU Consumer Protection Commissioner, will spend five days meeting with senior Chinese officials as well as representatives of Chinese industry and consumer associations. She will also visit toy factories and a testing laboratory.

"Her aim is to ensure...further actions to improve the safety track record of Chinese manufactured non-food consumer goods," said the European Commission, the EU's executive body.

China’s cheap labor market has made it the world’s factory, producing consumer goods at a fraction of the price of Western manufacturers. In 2006, China exported goods worth 191 billion euros ($264 billion) to the EU, running up a trade surplus of 128 billion euros.

You get what you pay for

It seems, however, the cheap goods may come at an unexpectedly high price for some consumers. Last week, Spain withdrew two leading brands of Chinese-made toothpaste due to a risk to public health, while Britain issued an alert after contaminated counterfeit toothpaste was found.

The worst scandals have occurred in the United States, where toxic dog and cat food imported from China was responsible for multiple animal deaths.

Officials said Kuneva would also discuss issues such as enforcement of safety and quality standards, rapid alert systems and effective market surveillance.

Rebuilding trust

The commissioner will insist that "trust in the market is essential," an official said, adding that it was in both China and the EU's interest to build strong co-operation and to expand the EU-China product safety monitoring system.

China is keen to take action on safety concerns in order to avoid a loss of consumer confidence. The recent spate of incidents culminated in China executing a former drug and safety chief earlier this month for corruption.

"The Chinese government is moving to address the fundamental problems behind issues relating to food product safety," Li Changjiang, the minister in charge of the country's top product safety agency told a news conference.