(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-01-04 21:52

BEIJING -- The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) hopes to strengthen cooperation with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China (AQSIQ), said Richard W. O'Brien, an official with the commission, on Friday.

O'Brien, director of the Office of International Programs and Intergovernmental Affairs, made the remarks at a news briefing at the US embassy to China in Beijing on Friday afternoon.

O'Brien's two-week China visit started on January 2, with the purpose as he described to communicate with relevant officials and manufacturers on the US consumer activism, consumer policies and their influence on the US and foreign markets.

O'Brien's trip will take him to Shanghai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou besides Beijing. This is his fourth visit to China, he said.

O'Brien said the AQSIQ has done a lot to ensure Chinese product safety and is gaining initial achievements and the CPSC exchanges views with the AQSIQ at regular intervals and is sharing more and more information with Chinese provincial-level quality inspection administrations so as to help them to know the U.S. product safety standards, adding that CPSC would like to continue sharing its experiences and lessons with AQSIQ to improve their respective product safety systems and recall systems.

On Chinese product quality and safety, O'Brien said the US citizens generally considered that most of Chinese products were of good-value, safe and with relatively low price, but of course, as the Chinese officials know that there is indeed some problems with certain products.

O'Brien said he hoped Chinese manufacturers could adopt modern practices to well manage the whole supply chain, ensure the safety of raw materials and better respond to problems with their products. He said he knew that many Chinese enterprises have been working for this end.

The CPSC was established in 1973 as an independent agency to establish, coordinate, spread and enforce US safety standards for more than 15,000 kinds of products.