SAFETY

China's product safety chief has urged his officials not to be discouraged by current global concern about Chinese goods, but warned them in the same pep talk their jobs may be at risk if they don't perform up to scratch.

Chinese President Hu Jintao said on Thursday that Beijing took product safety very seriously, as Asia Pacific ministers agreed to set up a food safety taskforce to ensure the health and safety of the region's population.

China has been overwhelmed by the storm of criticism and level of interest in recent product safety problems, but it will be a good learning experience, a public relations executive said on Thursday.

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

Asia-Pacific nations are trying to map out a more robust approach to strengthening the region's food and product safety standards as ministers from the 21-member bloc opened their annual meeting on Wednesday.

Hyping China's food and product safety problem is a sickness in itself, the country's new health minister said on Wednesday, a day after Mattel announced a third global recall of Chinese-made toys.

China has found microscopic worms in wooden packaging from the United States and uncovered substandard U.S. vitamin pills and fish oil for children, Chinese media said on Friday in the latest volley of cross-border accusations.

China has sent a notice to the World Health Organisation defending its food safety standards and sentenced another food and drug watchdog official for bribery, its latest moves to assure the world its exports are up to par.

With the Made in China brand under threat, steering the world's third-largest exporter through the public relations minefield of food and product safety is one of its leaders' biggest immediate tasks.

Officials launch a campaign to fix problem products that have damaged confidence in the 'made in China' label.

Desperate efforts to save 181 Chinese coal miners from two shafts flooded with water and mud faced near impossible odds on Wednesday, as a safety official said mine owners had failed to anticipate the threat of disaster.

Many Chinese toy workers have lost their jobs following Mattel Inc.'s global recall of toys, an industry body said on Friday, but insisted overall confidence in their products was high ahead of the key Christmas season.

Nearly 15 percent of Chinese food products failed a recent quality check, the government said on Friday in a report that nonetheless sought to reassure rattled consumers that tainted products are disappearing from shelves.

China will send delegations to the United States in August and September to discuss food and product safety following a spate of product recalls, a Chinese Embassy official said on Wednesday.

Chinese-made toys are overwhelmingly safe and the number of unsafe products is dwarfed by the total export value, state media said on Friday, a week after Mattel pulled goods because of fears about lead in paint.

Global cooperation is the only way to improve food safety, Chinese official media said on Sunday after yet another week of global anxiety about the quality of goods from China.

The United States is working on deals with China to bolster safety controls on Chinese-made foods and medical products, the U.S. said on Friday as international consumer alarm continued to pummel Beijing.

Rescuers searched on Thursday for 20 people missing in a U.S. bridge collapse that sent vehicles tumbling several stories into the Mississippi River in an avalanche of concrete and steel that killed at least four, authorities said.

China should not be singled out for particular concern over food safety, a big problem that rich and poor countries alike must tackle through better regulation, top World Health Organization (WHO) officials said on Tuesday.

China, reeling from a series of health scandals, on Friday told food and drug companies to put safety first and urged the media to paint a rosier picture as the government scrambled to quell public alarm.

Heart risks associated with Merck & Co.'s painkiller Vioxx began much sooner than the company has claimed, The Wall Street Journal Online reported on Tuesday, citing a new study.