中国承诺提高消费产品质量

China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine has pledged to keep 92 percent of the sample product quality above the state standards while reducing accidents of elevators and other mechanical devices.

Improving the quality of consumer goods where social concern is high is listed as a priority.

Zhi Shuping is the director of the national quality watchdog.

"Our first significant campaign in 2016 is to upgrade the quality of the consumer products nationwide. We will focus on 10 kinds of products including air purifiers, rice cookers, smart toilet seats, smart phones, kitchenware, and bedding."

Many cities in northern China have been enveloped by lingering heavy smog over the winter.

The severe air pollution has spurred the sale of air purifying equipment.

However, according to a recent report on the testing of 21 indoor air cleaners, the efficiency of air purifiers can vary widely.

Zhu Yan is the deputy chief engineer of China's Household Electrical Appliances Research Institute.

He says the efficiency of an air purifier is dependent on the quality of the filtration material, which also affects the machine's life span.

"The pollutants will become attached on the filtration material as the machine is used, and decrease the volume of clean air that the purifier can deliver. So when that volume drops to half of the original standard, the purifier is useless."

The national quality watchdog is set to release a new national standard on air purifiers.

It will clearly state that among other indexes, the quality of such products is not only examined by its purification efficiency, but also by the total volume of clean air it can deliver.

Zhi Shuping from the national quality watchdog stresses that the increase of quality standards will be a focus for the government.

"To improve the quality, we should not only rely on inspection and punishment as we did before, but focus more on the level-up of our standard, and to further conform national standards with international ones, so to encourage manufacturers to improve technology and produce more customized products."

The authorities also say they will strengthen supervision on imported products, especially food and health products, this year.

For CRI, this is Niu Honglin.