(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-10-14 11:08

More than 1,000 people from China's toy-making industry attended a government-sponsored training sessions on the quality and safety of export toys from October 11 to 12, the latest effort of the government to ensure sound quality of export toys.

During the two-day training sessions held in Guangdong, government officials and executives of transnational firms gave lectures on toy certificate systems and export test regulations and standards in China, the United States and Europe.

Related readings:  China promises lead-free toy export to US  Toy and food recalls introduced  Investigation aims to ensure toy safety  China to take measures to ensure toy quality

Toy makers, many from Guangdong, Zhejiang, Fujian and Hong Kong, were also taught on how to deal with lead level and design flaws of their products.

China has come under spotlight amid a spate of export toy recalls, the recent one by the US toy maker Mattel who this summer staged three separate recalls of Chinese-made toys, 87 percent of which were found to have loose magnets -- a design defect by Mattel itself -- and 13 percent of which contained excessive lead.

During the training, officials with the Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, who co-sponsored the training, urged toy producers to tighten quality control and develop self-owned brands.

China is the world's largest toy manufacturer, exporting 22 billion toys last year, about 60 percent of the world's total.

To improve product safety, China's quality watchdog introduced the nation's recall systems for unsafe food products and toys in late August this year.

Meanwhile, the government has also launched a four-month nationwide campaign to improve the quality of goods and food safety, targeting farm produce, processed food, catering sector, drugs, pork, imported and exported goods and products in close link to human safety and health.