Quake Relief in Action: China's quality watchdog to step up checks on relief matarials

BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- China's quality watchdog vowed Sunday to conduct strict checks on the quality of quake relief materials to ensure safety of these products.

By 5 p.m. Saturday, it had checked 10,020 quilts, 5,023 cotton-padded overcoats, 6,086 tents, 100 mattresses and 10 wool comforters and ferreted out 420 overcoats padded with shoddy cotton among other inferior goods.

The agency had already dispatched two food inspection vehicles to the quake-hit areas to scrutinize drinking water and food, said a statement posted on the web site of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (GAQSIQ).

The quality inspection authorities earmarked 2 million yuan (293,000 U.S. dollars) of relief funds and goods to quake-hit Yushu prefecture of northwestern Qinghai Province on April 16, after a devastating earthquake struck there last Wednesday.