Authorities asked to tighten supervision of toys, stationery

Local authorizes are urged to strengthen the safety management of children's toys and student supplies to ensure physical and mental health of teenagers, according to a notification issued by the Education Ministry on Thursday.

Market regulation departments should ask enterprises to strictly comply with production standards while e-commerce platform operators are required to further check the qualification of sellers, continuously improving product quality, according to the notification.

The Ministry of Education, the State Administration for Market Regulation, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and the All-China Women's Federation jointly issued the notification.

It emphasized the need to enhance supervision and management of quality and safety, focusing on main producing areas of children's toys and student supplies, wholesale markets, rural trade markets, and e-commerce platforms.

More inspections should be conducted on popular toys and stationery, it said.

Previously, the sudden popularity of a radish-shaped toy knife among primary school students had raised safety concerns. Though made of plastic, parents still worried that this toy knife may potentially trigger a violent tendency in their children.

Education authorities, in collaboration with other departments, must carry out targeted work on preventing the production and sale of toys and student supplies that pose physical and chemical hazards, as well as discouraging harmful behavior related to such products.

Schools are urged to prohibit the entry of harmful products, while carrying out educational activities to tell students not to buy or play those toys.