More than 30 percent of children's toys manufactured in Shenzhen in the past two months were found to be substandard, according to a report released by the city's quality watchdog Monday.

The report was based on a citywide inspection which covered plush toys, electronic toys and strollers, yesterday's Shenzhen Special Zone Daily said. Among the 13 batches of toys inspected, only nine batches conformed to the national standard.

Excessive amounts of metal, especially lead, were found in some electronic toys, which might pose a health hazard for children who play with the toys for a long time, the Daily report said.

Two batches of strollers were found to be potentially dangerous as the combustibility of fabrics used was not up to standard. Substandard plastic bags and film on baby walkers could also prove to be dangerous, as they posed choking hazards, officials with the municipal quality supervision bureau said.

Other problems found during the inspection were ropes so thin they could cut the skin of children, and parts that could easily be swallowed.

Experts suggested that parents pay special attention to the warning sign, validity period and operating instructions while choosing toys for their children to avoid potential safety hazards, the Daily report said.

Meanwhile, the city's quality watchdog also found in a separate inspection that nearly 30 percent of children's clothes manufactured in the city were substandard.

The screening involved 51 batches of children's clothes from 22 companies and the unsafe clothes either contained excessive amounts of heavy metal or used dyes that would run easily.

As for children's food, excessive amounts of coloring agents is still the major problem, according to yesterday's Shenzhen Evening News.

(Shenzhen Daily May 30, 2007)

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A Dangerous Game: Toys Run Foul of Online Inspections

Nearly three-quarters of toys sold over the Internet have serious quality problems and could be a danger to children, according to a survey by city quality watchdogs.

The Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision tested 58 toys bought from seven popular online vendors, including Taobao.com, eBay and Joyo.

Some of the toys were found to have small parts that could be easily swallowed while some contained long sections of rope or string that could strangle young children.

Most of the toys had no Chinese labeling on the package and parents would be unable to tell whether the item was suitable for their children.

The bureau found toy fishing boats on eBay that were made in China for export to Japan had no Chinese on the package.

An inspection of store-bought toys revealed a problem rate of 13 percent, said Cao Hong, deputy director of the bureau's supervision department.

Cao said online purchasing laws only regulate payment in the online trade, but do not cover quality standards.

This has led to many low-quality products finding their way onto the online market.

"Another problem is that consumers find it hard to protect their rights after buying things on the Internet," Cao said. "Cyber-store owners are different from real ones, and they don't have to register with the industrial and commercial authorities, and it's hard to look into their responsibilities."

The bureau said it has no legal right to order online stores to take their unqualified products off the shelves. However, some of the toys' manufacturers face penalties.

"We are still discussing the penalties with the producers," said Cao.

"But some of the toys don't have any production information on them, and we can't do anything about them."

The bureau said the toy inspection was the first in a series of online investigations.

"We are now carrying out quality tests on other products sold on the Internet," Cao said.

(Shanghai Daily May 30, 2007)