Chinese exporters have been on the ropes in recent times, taking severe body blows from accusations of below-quality or dangerous products being exported to the United States.

At a press conference on August 27, Li Changjiang, Minister of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, China's quality control watchdog, faced the music in a barrage of questions about tainted food products, dangerous toys and the absence of a product recall system.

"We will strictly scrutinize producers, and exporters who flout standards will be severely punished," Li said, adding that U.S. importers should also be blamed for the "defective" toys due to different national standards and inaccurate data on tests they provided.

Mattel, a major U.S. toy maker, recalled 20.2 million China-made toys recently, because of the twin dangers of small magnets and paint containing lead. "Of all the recalled products, 85 percent were manufactured in line with U.S. specifications and the requirements of U.S. importers," Li argued.

The 15 percent left were found to contain excessive levels of lead according to a standard newly released by the American Society for Testing & Materials in May, according to Li.

The quality chief stressed that since early 2004, Chinese producers have been under close surveillance to provide quality products and safe food to both domestic and overseas consumers.

In a move to crack down on problematic products, the State Council, China's cabinet, has recently set up a taskforce to enhance product quality and food safety, which is headed by Vice Premier Wu Yi. The taskforce is devising a mechanism to monitor entire production processes-from the purchase of raw materials and production, to after-sales service.

The Chinese Government is also planning to launch its first recall system for unsafe products, Li told the August 27 news conference. He pledged that recalled products, particularly food, will be destroyed to prevent them from returning to circulation.