Home market kids' clothes 'a danger'
By Lu Feiran |
August 23, 2011, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
MANY domestically produced children's clothes intended for sale in China are low quality and threaten health, according to a garment industry group.
The China National Garment Association said nearly half of products produced in Guangdong Province, one of the biggest children's clothes manufacturing provinces in China, failed quality tests.
"For the past five years, the quality test pass rate for children's clothes was only 60 percent in Guangdong," Xie Qing, deputy secretary general of the association, told Xi'an Evening News.
"On many occasions, carcinogenic substances were found in the clothes."
Xie said China has strict standards for children's clothes, but enforcing these is sometimes difficult.
"Some test institutes take bribes to give false test results," claimed Xie.
Excessive formaldehyde content was the biggest problem, officials said. The chemical, which exists in low-quality dyes, may cause skin allergy, respiratory diseases, or even cancer.
"About 5 percent of children's diseases are caused by low-quality goods," said Liu Liangyu, an official with the China Social Work Association. "Clothes and other goods made of non-environmentally friendly materials pose a serious threat to children's health."
But it was noted that while in recent years a large proportion of children's clothes destined for the domestic market had quality problems, garments for export almost all passed tests.
Wanxin Garment Co Ltd, a manufacturer based in Foshan, Guangdong Province, told Xi'an Evening News that Chinese companies offered only 60 percent of the amount paid by foreign firms.
"The low price determines the low quality," said Wang Xiaoming, director of the company.
Another manufacturer, Shunhua Garment Co Ltd, also in Foshan, said domestic companies had no quality requirements, only on color, smell and how a garment felt - which the industry called "the pure sensory test."
"No quality problems were ever found in our garments exported to Europe," said Liu Gengzhi, director of the company. "But we were blacklisted twice in China because of quality problems."
Shanghai authorities said the quality of children's clothes "was not stable," and that it will strengthen inspections.
In the latest quality check, carried out in May, almost 90 percent of samples collected from the Shanghai market passed tests, officials said.
The China National Garment Association said nearly half of products produced in Guangdong Province, one of the biggest children's clothes manufacturing provinces in China, failed quality tests.
"For the past five years, the quality test pass rate for children's clothes was only 60 percent in Guangdong," Xie Qing, deputy secretary general of the association, told Xi'an Evening News.
"On many occasions, carcinogenic substances were found in the clothes."
Xie said China has strict standards for children's clothes, but enforcing these is sometimes difficult.
"Some test institutes take bribes to give false test results," claimed Xie.
Excessive formaldehyde content was the biggest problem, officials said. The chemical, which exists in low-quality dyes, may cause skin allergy, respiratory diseases, or even cancer.
"About 5 percent of children's diseases are caused by low-quality goods," said Liu Liangyu, an official with the China Social Work Association. "Clothes and other goods made of non-environmentally friendly materials pose a serious threat to children's health."
But it was noted that while in recent years a large proportion of children's clothes destined for the domestic market had quality problems, garments for export almost all passed tests.
Wanxin Garment Co Ltd, a manufacturer based in Foshan, Guangdong Province, told Xi'an Evening News that Chinese companies offered only 60 percent of the amount paid by foreign firms.
"The low price determines the low quality," said Wang Xiaoming, director of the company.
Another manufacturer, Shunhua Garment Co Ltd, also in Foshan, said domestic companies had no quality requirements, only on color, smell and how a garment felt - which the industry called "the pure sensory test."
"No quality problems were ever found in our garments exported to Europe," said Liu Gengzhi, director of the company. "But we were blacklisted twice in China because of quality problems."
Shanghai authorities said the quality of children's clothes "was not stable," and that it will strengthen inspections.
In the latest quality check, carried out in May, almost 90 percent of samples collected from the Shanghai market passed tests, officials said.
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