China tells UN health agency its food exports are safe, seeks support

China imprisoned an official linked to the country's problematic drug industry, and defended its food quality in a letter to the World Health Organization as it stepped up efforts to alleviate global concern about its exports.

In the letter, the Health Ministry repeated previous Chinese statements that 99 percent of the country's food exports are safe, but also sought WHO's help in improving food quality.

The WHO received the letter which showed China's recognition that it has some "special challenges and is working to address them," said Joanna Brent, the WHO's Beijing-based spokeswoman.

The voluntary eight-page notice, which was sent a week ago but posted on the ministry's Web site on Wednesday, said government leaders were "willing to increase information exchanges and communication with international society and other countries in line with its attitude of openness and transparency."

The ministry also reiterated a list of actions China has taken recently to improve food safety, from increased inspections to penalties for companies that violate standards.

Also Wednesday, the official Xinhua News Agency said that the former head of the food and drug bureau in Zhejiang province was sentenced to four years in prison for taking bribes.

Zheng Shangjin had connections with Zheng Xiaoyu, former head of the State Food and Drug Administration, who was executed last month for taking bribes to approve substandard medicines, including an antibiotic that killed at least 10 people. The two men are not related.

Zheng Shangjin once arranged a meeting between Zheng Xiaoyu and officials of the Hainan Kangliyuan Group, which has been accused of giving the SFDA head bribes and paintings in exchange for receiving approvals for more than 270 drugs, state media have reported.

Xinhua said Zheng Shangjin, who was removed from his post last October, abused his power and accepted bribes totaling 680,000 yuan (US$90,000; euro68,000) from Kangliyuan officials, allowed them to give money to his relatives and buy him an Audi.

China began requiring that all drugs be approved by the SFDA only in 2002, a move which created a massive backlog, giving companies a strong incentive to find ways to expedite approvals, sometimes of bogus or dangerous drugs.

Leniency was shown to Zheng because he "surrendered himself to the police, told them all the crimes he had committed" and returned the bribes, Xinhua said.

This week, China launched a campaign to weed out unqualified manufacturers amid a global recall of Chinese-made toys _ part of a bigger, four-month effort to improve overall quality in all steps of production.

The crackdown on toy makers comes two weeks after Mattel Inc., the world's largest toy maker, recalled almost 19 million dolls, cars and action figures because they contained lead paint or tiny magnets that could damage organs if swallowed by children.

Chinese officials have said Mattel is also partly to blame because of poor designs and inadequate inspections.