CHINA has adopted an electronic system to improve product quality supervision of exported food and toys, a top quality supervision bureau official said today in Shanghai.

China will establish an enterprise and product credit system to better track and regulate product quality. Meanwhile, consumers can easily ask for detailed information about products through phone, Internet and special machines, according to Pu Changcheng, vice minister of China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

Chinese firms are rated on for four levels from A to D based on their product quality record. The top-rated firms will enjoy favorable policies such as tax breaks, easier access to bank loans and less hassle at customs. The worst-rated companies will be gradually wiped out of the market, according to Pu.

"The firms with bad ratings needn't worry if they have really improved quality control as we will adjust the rating after regular inspection,'' Pu told Shanghai Daily on the sidelines of a local forum today.

"Those companies that purposely put poisonous or harmful products on the market -- less than one percent of total firms -- will have a bad rating and be tracked forever in the system,'' Pu said.

Totally 23,675 firms in China were recorded in the credit system by the end of last month, according to the administration.

China is increasingly faced with international concern over the quality of its exports, especially toys and food.

A batch of made-in-China toys were found with paint containing lead, which may link to health problems in children including brain damage. Mattel's Fisher-Price unit, the US-based buyer, recalled nearly one million toys in the US market last month. The recall caused the manager of the Chinese supplier to commit suicide.

"It is an accident and most exported Chinese products are qualified,'' said Pu. "China's quality inspection standard is much more severe than most developed countries.''

"If the US really wants to reduce the safety threat that consumers are facing, it would be more constructive to identify its own loopholes in foreign trade supervision and try to close them - rather than simply pointing its fingers at China,'' Mei said in its column in Shanghai Daily recently.