China declares 2011 ‘Year of quality’ in exports
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce and two other central government departments have pledged stronger support for quality exports and tougher punishment for poor quality exports, and named 2011 “the year of quality improvement in exports.”
Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng said that China’s overall quality of exports is good, but there is a confidence crisis after Chinese media reported quality problems in some industries.
“Quality is vital for the competitiveness of Chinese products,” Mr Gao told commerce officials in China. “It determines the profitability of our products and concerns the image of our country.”
Mr Gao said the ministry was determined to strip any company of its export license if its products were found to have a quality problem and it would be banned from participating in any trade fair.
Officials with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine also said they would cooperate to guarantee the quality of exports.
Mr Gao said that quality improvement should not be limited to the production of safer, better and more durable products, but also extend to packaging and after-sale services.
On 1 March, 2011, six trade commissions, which oversee more than 40,000 exporters in light industry, textile, mining, food, electrical and medical equipment industries, pledged to upgrade the quality of exports by their member companies.
