China says faces arduous food safety task

China faces a long and difficult task to improve food safety, but global cooperation is the only way to do it, official media said on Sunday after yet another week of global anxiety about the quality of Chinese goods.

A range of Chinese exports, from fish and toys to pet food and toothpaste, have been found to be mislabeled, unsafe or dangerously contaminated, creating an international backlash.

"At present, the food safety situation has improved, yet is still serious," Xinhua news agency quoted the deputy head of the State Food and Drug Administration, Hui Lusheng, as saying.

"Since last year reports of 'red-yolk duck eggs' and so on have often caused wide concern in society about food safety, and warned us that our country is in a period of high risk," Hui said, referring to a contaminated egg scare.

"Dealing with and preventing food safety risks is a long-term, arduous and complicated project, which needs society to work together and comprehensive prevention," she added.

But the government also insists the problems of a few small, rogue companies should not besmirch the whole made-in-China label, insisting it does take effective action to ensure safety.

In fact, China has always worked with other countries to tackle the issue, Xinhua said.

"Food safety and product quality is an international problem, and is also something the whole of mankind pays attention to," it said in a piece carried on the central government's Web site (www.gov.cn).

"It needs cooperation and better communication from governments to seek common solutions together. Strengthened international negotiations and cooperation are the only effective path to solving the safety problem," the report added.

It then listed the talks China had had with Japan, the European Union and the United States on the subject.

"The quality and inspection bureau has proactively attended international meetings, and taken part in setting standards," Xinhua said.

An agreement on food safety cooperation was signed with the United States on Saturday, the quality watchdog said in a statement on its Web site (www.aqsiq.gov.cn). It gave no details.

In the latest scare, Mattel Inc. said it was recalling 1.5 million Fisher-Price toys globally because their paint could contain too much lead.

The United States has stepped up inspections of imports from China since a chemical additive in pet food caused the death of some pets there earlier this year.

Beijing has complained though that it is the victim of biased news reports that have grossly overstated the depth of the quality problem and are being used to stoke protectionist demands.

"In many countries, protectionism has still not been wiped away," quality watchdog spokesman Liu Deping was quoted as telling state television, according to a transcript carried on official government Web site www.china.com.cn.

Some Chinese products were running into trouble overseas simply because of different food standards, it quoted a professor at China Agricultural University as saying.

"These differences in standards are actually to limit other country's trade and exports," Luo Yunbo said.