BEING: China on Friday welcomed moves by Japanese auto giant Toyota and Ford of the United States to recall or suspend production of some cars due to safety risks.

China’s product safety watchdog said yesterday Toyota would call back more than 75,000 cars in the country due to an accelerator problem, extending a programme that has already affected millions of vehicles in the United States. Ford on the same day announced that it has halted production of a commercial vehicle built in China as a precautionary measure since it used a pedal made by the same firm that supplied Toyota.

China itself has been criticised worldwide for a raft of product safety scandals in recent years involving dangerous foods, and toys with its manufacturing industry being blamed as poorly regulated and corrupted.