Chinese electric cables found to be substandard

More than 10 percent of the China's electric cables were found to be substandard on sample checks on three major kinds of products.

The qualification ratio reached only 88.4 percent, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in an online statement on its website.

The quality issues mainly focus on insulating property, measurement, and conductor's electric resistance, the statement said.

The problems were found to be a result of the use of inferior production materials and poor manufacturing, with some companies illegally making unqualified products, which have now flooded the rural markets and the nation's affordable housing projects, the statement said.

The administration has shut down 79 companies for illegal operations and ordered more than 400 other companies to correct their production.

The statement also said that local quality regulators have stepped up inspections on the quality of electric cable exports, especially those to the African market.