EU says guard up for problem Chinese goods

The European Union is keeping up its guard to stop substandard Chinese goods from entering the bloc even as China makes huge strides to nip the problem in the bud, a senior official said on Tuesday.

China has come under increasing pressure from trading partners to improve product quality following a series of scares ranging from drug-tainted seafood to dangerous toys and substandard baby milk.

"I haven't changed the main political messages," said EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva. "They remain the same - that Europe is for open trade, that we'd like to cooperate strongly with China, that we'd like to do business with China.

"But we need to make one even more stronger statement - that we will not compromise on safety," she told reporters in Beijing after meeting the head of China's national quality watchdog, Li Changjiang.

Kuneva last year threatened to ban imports from China if the country did not act more aggressively against makers of substandard products.

But China, which launched its own crackdown on shoddy products and their manufacturers following the safety scares, had upped its game when it comes to cooperating with Europe, Kuneva said.

"Starting from a low level before, now we have enhanced so much this cooperation that almost all of our notifications sent to China are tracked down," she said.

But problems remained.

"Our worries are very much evidence-based. In the first place, this is toys, and we are addressing it through a road map to improve production from the design desk to the shelves," Kuneva said.

"The next issue is electrical goods, especially those with low voltages. We have some worries about cosmetics as well and tyres for bikes," she added.

"What I can promise you and make as a commitment is that we will continue to watch the market. We are watching and surveying our markets and this is not the end of the game."