In view of the unceasing production and sale of fake and shoddy products in China, the State Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision will strike out against phony goods with an iron fist.

Zhu Mingxian, deputy director of the bureau, said Monday in Beijing that the bureau will launch, according to law, crackdowns on the making and selling of shoddy products in some key areas in the coming three years to eliminate the goods which are endangering the national economy and people's livelihood and safety.

Those markets selling fake products will be brought under control, and the rampant producing and selling of inferior goods by criminal gangs should be basically checked within three years, said Zhu.

According to the official, over 224,600 cases involving producing and selling fake products, including 4,528 serious cases, were investigated by the quality and technical supervision departments across China last year.

Phony products worth 3.543 billion yuan (about 427 million US dollars) were seized last year. More than 8,200 production and sales sites of fake products were shut down and 1,677 gangs dealing in fake products were disbanded, said Zhu.

However, he pointed out that the diversified fake products are distributed on a large scale. Last year, over 140,000 cartons of fake cigarettes in 32 varieties, worth 11 million yuan, were seized in Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi Province in north China.

The quality and technical supervision bureau of Jiamusi City in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province seized 660 tons of inferior potash fertilizer in one case last year, which may otherwise cause economic losses up to more than 1,300 hectares of farmland.

Zhu said that the production and sale of fake products is concentrated in certain regions. In 1999, about 100 small fertilizer factories in Haizhou Prefecture, east China's Jiangsu Province, were found making poor-quality fertilizer, with a total annual output of 80,000 to 100,000 tons. The shoddy fertilizer was sold to Heilongjiang, Henan, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning and other regions.

Zhu noted that currently the fake goods are mainly agricultural production materials, construction materials, gas stoves, household appliances and food, which threaten people's health and safety.

"The difficulty in striking out against fake products is increased, for the criminals are sneaky, and some have even resorted to violence to resist law enforcement," Zhu said.

Statistics revealed more than 30 cases last year where quality and technical supervision departments were prevented from carrying out their law enforcement duty.

Recently, two officials from the Heilongjiang Provincial Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau died in a fire, set by criminals, when closing down an illegal oil refinery in Tailai County of the province.

"Fake and shoddy products bring great harm to the country and society," said Zhu, adding that to strengthen the strike on fraud products is an important task facing the government.

"It is not only an economic issue, but also a serious social and political issue. Indulging in fake and shoddy products will make China weak," Zhu stressed.

In addition to the campaign to wipe out fake products, more support will be given to producing high-quality goods. China also plans to designate 100 streets that are free from shoddy and fake products this year, he said.