China's mobile communications consumers are very likely paying money for new phone batteries that are not really new, according to a top official with the Ministry of Information Industry (MII).
"China is flooded with shoddy mobile phone batteries," said Ma Min, an official with the MII. "Half of the mobile phone batteries on the market are no good."
The State Bureau of Quality & Technical Supervision recently made several inspections of the mobile phone battery market and found nearly 50 per cent of batteries in China failed to meet quality standards, Ma said.
According to Ma, who is a member of the committee that set down the "Three Guarantees," rules published on September 24 to protect consumers' rights, wholesalers and retailers have both been known to sometimes replace good batteries with shoddy ones to save costs. And, Ma insists, consumers pay the price for this deception.
It is common practice for retailers to offer "gift packages" combining batteries and chargers, in which the batteries are often used products masked with new shells and the chargers are second-rate. One of these low-quality "packages" costs retailers only 30 yuan (US$3.62), Ma said. It's an open secret in the industry, he added.
According to Ma, a battery factory of 3 to 5 persons can make more than 50,000 batteries a year. They routinely buy used batteries from abroad and change their shells to make them look new. In many cities like Shenzhen, Quanzhou, Harbin and Chengdu, there are special markets for these "recycled" batteries.
China surpassed the United States as the world's largest mobile phone market in July when it reported 120.6 million mobile service subscribers. Demand for batteries this year is expected to reach more than 200 million.
(People's Daily 10/10/2001)
