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'Made in China' Dominates European Union's List of Unsafe Products

| Mar 26, 2015 06:47 AM EDT

A customer looks at fake foreign brand shoes inside a store at Baiyun World Leather Market in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou.

The European Union's list of unsafe non-food products had the percentage of Chinese-manufactured goods far exceeding those from other nations.

Based on figures by Rapid Alert System, published annually by the European Commission, out of 2,435 dangerous products identified in 2014, 64 percent were manufactured in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong.

Most on EU's 2013 list were also from China, but the percentage of Chinese products in the list is much more in 2014.

Toys that may choke children top the EU list of reject goods, followed by clothing and electrical appliances.

Others are shoes and leather goods made of allergenic materials, and jewelry containing heavy metals.

These are apparently among the leading products of China's manufacturing sector.

"Products that can cause harm have to be removed from the market as quickly as possible. This is the reason why we have created the Rapid Alert System," said Vera Jourová, EU Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality.

The Rapid Alert System quickly circulates information to member states and European Commission about dangerous non-food products withdrawn from the market and/or recalled anywhere in Europe.

Follow-up actions such as withdrawal, ban/stop of sales, recall or import rejection by Customs authorities are done everywhere in the EU. In 2014, there were 2,755 such follow-up actions registered in the system.

China's economy was boosted mainly by a manufacturing industry supported by a low-cost workforce.

However, as the Chinese wanted their products to be competitive, they compromise quality to come up with low prices.

Overall, the quality of Chinese products cannot match those made in countries like Germany and Japan.

Statistics show that China's manufacturing this month has fallen to its lowest level in almost a year. As higher standards are proposed for products worldwide, China's manufacturing industry will find it harder to keep competitive by low prices alone.

China is seeking to engage in higher-value activities, and Premier Li Keqiang has put forward a "Made in China 2025" strategy in his governmental report earlier this month.

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