By WU YI
December 11, 2007 Beijing

The Third China-U.S. Strategic Economic Dialogue, which convenes tomorrow, will address product quality and food safety. This focus reflects public concern over these issues in both countries. It also shows that the two governments are committed to protecting people's livelihood and consumers' rights, and that China and the United States are working together to meet new challenges posed by economic globalization.

With a population of 1.3 billion, China is both a big manufacturing center and a large consumer market. "Putting people first" is the principle followed by the Chinese government as it works to meet its people's growing material needs.

The Chinese government takes product quality and food safety very seriously. Quality, but inexpensive, Chinese goods are favored by consumers across the world -- and particularly American consumers. China is a responsible member of the international community, and the Chinese government has redoubled efforts to strengthen the system of supervision and control over product quality, especially relating to exports.

Take, for example, the "Product Quality Law," the "Standardization Law," the "Law on Import and Export Commodity Inspection," the "Food Safety Law," the "Administration Regulation on Agricultural GMOs" and the "Regulations on Responding to Public Health Emergencies" -- all of which have either been passed or amended in recent years. This commitment is also evidenced by the establishment of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine; the founding of the State Food and Drug Administration; and the strengthening of law enforcement by government agricultural, health and market regulatory authorities.

In particular, ongoing efforts have been made to crack down hard on counterfeiting and ensure market order. Thanks to its efforts over the years, China has come a long way in strengthening product quality and food safety control and supervision.

With economic globalization gaining momentum, product quality and food safety have increasingly become a global issue. The Chinese government shares the concerns of both Chinese and foreign consumers about product quality and food safety. We are keenly aware that even if 10,000 quality products are sold, just one defective product that finds its way to market will harm the interest of the consumer who buys it.

With this in mind, the Chinese government launched in August a four-month, nationwide campaign to improve product quality and safety in the following areas: agricultural products, food processing, food sold in stores, catering, medicine, pork, imports and exports, and other consumer goods involving human health and safety.

By making this concerted effort, we aim to both resolve major product quality and safety problems, and put in place a supervision mechanism that monitors the whole production process from product design to the delivery of raw materials, production and processing, product sales and after-sale service. In food products, this mechanism covers planting and breeding, production and processing, and sales and catering. We are also working to install a product quality and safety tracking and accountability system and a national product quality monitoring network.

Twenty specific targets have been set, and both the central government authorities and local governments are required to make sure that these targets are met by manufacturers and businesses. The Chinese government has issued special regulations that clearly define the respective responsibilities of producers and businesses, government regulatory authorities and local governments. The latter two bodies are required to enforce laws rigorously to punish violations of product quality and safety.

China's actions are clearly visible on the ground. In fields across the country, agro-technicians are showing farmers how to use pesticides correctly. In factories, strict quality control is exercised in every step of the production process. At Chinese ports, all exports are subject to stringent inspection.

Over the past few months, I myself have held 10 national meetings on improving product quality and safety. I have been to Zhejiang, Shandong and Guangdong provinces on three inspection tours, with a team of over 300 supervisors who have inspected 268 companies. In Guangdong, China's largest exporting province, 100,000 local officials have been called into action, and more than one million people have received training in product quality and food safety control. Guangdong's provincial government has distributed more than 10 million brochures on this subject. Product quality standards are being updated.

Our efforts are paying off. A number of major problems affecting product quality and safety have been resolved. Wholesale farm produce markets in 676 large and medium-sized Chinese cities have been put under government monitoring and inspection programs, and 98.7% of small food processing companies in China have signed documents pledging food quality and safety.

Resident quality inspectors have been posted in major pharmaceutical companies. A system for recalling defective foodstuffs and other consumer goods involving human health and safety has been established. Checks have been conducted on all bases that produce raw materials for food, toys and other key export products. We have also revoked the export licenses of producers who have not met our standards.

Obviously, tough measures are called for to protect consumer interests. We will continue to take such measures, even if this means increasing our costs and suffering a drop in exports. I am convinced that thanks to this ongoing effort, China's legal framework governing product quality, quality standards, and supervision and controls will be significantly improved and that the "Made in China" label will be even more popular with consumers across the world.

Enhancing dialogue and cooperation is crucial to improving product quality and food safety. And I believe it is important that we take the following steps in addressing this issue:

First, product quality and food safety of different countries should be viewed in an objective light. With greater economic and social, as well as scientific and technological progress, higher and more comprehensive standards are being set for product quality and food safety. However, standards, supervision and control systems vary for countries with different national conditions and in different stages of development.

There is also a gap between developed and developing countries in terms of their capacity for supervision and control. Some specific methods of supervision and control that were effective in the past are not sufficient to address new problems now. This means we need to expand our common ground and jointly strengthen our supervision and control efforts to improve product quality.

Second, we should take a hard look at substandard products. Making sensational charges is convenient, but won't address the root of the problem. We should find out what has caused the defect: Is it caused by faulty design or substandard material supplied, or has something gone wrong in production or in the course of transportation? While these questions remain unanswered, it is unfair to place all the blame on producers.

Third, individual cases involving product quality and food safety ought to be handled for what they are, and one should resist the temptation to jump to sweeping conclusions about them. In particular, attempts to politicize these issues and use them to erect new trade barriers should be firmly opposed.

China will live up to its responsibilities and obligations when it comes to product quality and food safety. But we would appreciate understanding, support and help from our trade partners, as we are contributing our share to resolving the problem. Economic globalization has bound all of us closer than ever before. We need to work together. Only by doing so can we protect the interests of all consumers.

Ms. Wu is vice premier of China.