In September administrations for industry and commerce and the bureau of quality and technical supervision issued the results of apparel, home textiles, bags, and footwear quality checks. These spot checks were conducted according to GB 18401-2010 ‘National general safety technical code for textile products’ , GB 5296.4-2012 ‘Instruction for use of products of consumer interest-Part 4: Textile and apparel’ , GB 20400-2006 ’Leather and fur-limit of harmful matter’, GB/T 29862-2013 ‘Textiles. Identification of fiber content’ , GB 20400-2006 ‘Leather and fur. Limit of harmful matter ’ GB 28011-2011 ‘Shanks for footwear’, nominal product standards, local standard and CCGF.
The results are summarised below:
| Product category | Supervision and inspection organization | Total batches | Number of problems found | Problem area |
| Sportswear | General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the PRC | 200 | 11 | fiber content, pH value, color fastness |
| Children’s shoes | General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the PRC | 96 | 13 | abrasion, accessory tensile strength, shank, extractable heavy, phthalate |
| Children’s wear | Liaoning Administration for Industry & Commerce | — | 42 | labeling, color fastness, fiber content |
| Infants and children garment | Sichuan Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 10 | 2 | pH value, sewing strength |
| Infants and children garment | Guangdong Administration for Industry & Commerce | 200 | 102 | azo dye, formaldehyde, extractable heavy metal, fiber content, color fastness, pH value, labeling |
| Children’s wear | Henan Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 30 | 1 | fiber content |
| Knitted school uniform | Henan Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 45 | 2 | fiber content |
| School uniform | Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 28 | 2 | fiber content |
| School uniform | Jilin Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 10 | 1 | fiber content |
| Apparel | Market supervision administration of Shenzhen municipality | 169 | 7 | color fastness, azo dye |
| Apparel | Zhejiang Administration for Industry & Commerce | 36 | 3 | pH value, fiber content |
| Adult’s wear | Wenzhou Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 15 | 1 | pH value |
| Casual clothes | Henan Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 66 | 11 | fiber content, color fastness, pH value |
| Knitted underwear | Guangdong Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 58 | 10 | fiber content |
| T-shirt | Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 80 | 10 | fiber content |
| Shirt or Blouse | Wenzhou Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 22 | 2 | dimensional change after washing |
| Adult’s wear | Sichuan Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 50 | — | — |
| Textile products | Sichuan Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 364 | 10 | color fastness, fiber content, tensile strength, dimensional change after washing, density deviation rate, pH value |
| Footwear | Zhejiang Administration for Industry & Commerce | 40 | 16 | formaldehyde, phthalate, peeling off strength, flex strength, shank, labeling |
| Footwear | Henan Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 20 | 2 | Tensile strength, elongation, heel height |
| Children’s footwear | Henan Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 16 | — | — |
| Leather sandals | Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 60 | 8 | appearance, flex resistance, heel hardness, color fastness, shank |
| Leather shoes | Wenzhou Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 100 | 22 | labeling, azo dye, peeling off strength, heel hardness, flex resistance, shank |
| Leather sandals | Wenzhou Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 100 | 9 | labeling, shank, heel hardness, flex resistance |
| Leather sandals | Sichuan Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 70 | — | — |
| Casual shoes | Wenzhou Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 10 | 5 | azo dye, labeling, color fastness |
| Athletic Shoe | Guangdong Administration for Industry & Commerce | 100 | 50 | labeling, color fastness, flex resistance, adhesive strength |
| Adult’s shoes | Beijing Administration for Industry & Commerce | — | 15 | labeling, peeling off strength, flex resistance, shank, appearance, color fastness |
| Silk quilts | Shanghai Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 50 | 10 | labeling, fiber content, wadding quality |
| Towel | Beijing Administration for Industry & Commerce | — | 15 | labeling, fiber content, dimensional change after washing, absorbency, color fastness |
| Home textile | Beijing Administration for Industry & Commerce | — | 34 | labeling, fiber content, pH value, color fastness, tensile strength, dimensional change after washing |
| Home textile | Guangzhou Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 20 | 2 | pH value, dimensional change after washing |
| Home textile | Wenzhou Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 10 | 3 | labeling, fiber content |
| Home textile | Shanxi Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 20 | — | — |
| Home textile | Sichuan Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 30 | 1 | pH value |
| Bags | Sichuan Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 16 | 10 | traveling performance, impact performance |
Suggestions from CTI
Apparel, footwear, and bags which are sold in China, not only need to meet the requirements of mandatory safety technical codes they also need meet the quality requirements of product standards. Enterprises should understand how to choose the specific requirements of China’s national standards, and industry standards. They must do some testing before sale and make sure products meet all requirements of relevant standards.