China will follow the example of the EU and set up its own alert system to report dangerous consumer products imported into its market, said Zhi Shuping, minister in charge of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), to protect the interests of Chinese consumers.

With the rapid growth of China’s economy, imported goods also saw swift growth in recent years, with the value of imports reaching US$139.5 billion in 2010, an increase of 38.7% over the previous year. Growth in the import of consumer goods was particularly notable. While striving to improve the safety of its own products, China also saw the need to ensure the quality of imported consumer products to protect the health and safety of its consumers, said Zhi Shuping.

According to Zhi Shuping, AQSIQ has extended compulsory product certification to important everyday consumer goods in sensitive sectors and actively called for the establishment of a safety alert system on imported consumer goods. He hoped to further strengthen China-EU cooperation on consumer safety issues by establishing a safety alert regime for consumer products imported into its market.

The EU introduced the rapid alert system for non-food dangerous products (RAPEX) in 2004 for the sharing of information on consumer products among member states.