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BIZCHINA / Center

US urged to treat Chinese imports fairly

By Qin Jize (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-07-21 09:02

The Chinese Embassy in Washington has urged the US to treat China's food
and drug exports in a scientific and fair manner, saying exaggeration and
complication of the issue is not conducive to the healthy development of
bilateral trade.

The embassy issued a statement on Thursday after a series of disputes
over the quality of products between the two.

The embassy said it hoped the US would not exaggerate or play up
individual food safety cases and create a "China food and drug threat",
giving the American public the wrong impression.

"Blowing up, complicating or politicizing the issue is irresponsible," it
said.

It added that it is even more unacceptable for some to launch groundless
attacks against China using the food and drug safety issue as an excuse.

It said problematic US imports from China such as toxic ingredients mixed
into pet food were isolated cases and more than 99 percent of Chinese
food that is exported to more than 200 countries and regions met the
safety standard.

The statement said China should not be singled out for particular concern
over food safety, a common challenge facing every country including the
United States.

Noting recent US cases of contaminated spinach, peanut butter and
poultry, the statement said China is not on the top of the list of
countries whose food exports were refused in the past year.

It said the Chinese government has taken this matter very seriously,
acted responsibly and immediately adopted forceful measures.

Agencies contributed to this story

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