700 toys export licenses revoked

Seven hundred toy factories have had their export licenses revoked following a nationwide inspection campaign of all 3,540 of the country's export-oriented toy firms that began in August, a senior official said yesterday.

The figures were released by Li Changjiang, director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine after meeting visiting EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva in Beijing.

The licenses were revoked because the firms "failed to meet safety standards", Li said, without elaborating.