Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said on Thursday his country took food safety very seriously, echoing comments by President Hu Jintao in Sydney.

Chinese products have come under intense scrutiny over safety concerns in a number of countries in recent months, prompting recalls of products, including toys and toothpaste.

The Chinese government takes product quality and food safety very seriously. We are working hard to adopt related legislation, improve the system of quality standards and strengthen quality control to effectively resolve problems in this area, Wen told a news conference according to a copy of the speech seen by Reuters.

To enhance produce quality and food safety is a common task for the international community. We will continue to work with other countries to improve product quality and food safety.

Hu said earlier China was ready to boost international cooperation to ensure its export products met appropriate safety standards.

China has blamed the international media for fanning the flames of panic over Chinese products. Beijing says the vast majority of Chinese exports are safe and even rejected a handful of shipments of U.S. products saying they did not meet standards.

China Safety