Most people who buy luxury goods do so with the belief they are paying for quality. But that's not always the case. An investigation by the Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau found many luxury products coming into the busy port city to be of poor quality. And the bureau plans to step up its inspection efforts this year.

Of the luxury goods under investigation, accessories fared the worst. 33 of 56 batches failed to meet technical standards, representing a qualification rate of just 41 percent. And quite a few of the rejected products were world famous brands.

A common defect found was excess metal content, such as lead, arsenic and nickel. The added metal can cause an allergic reaction on the skin and even result in mental damage.

Imported garments did only a little better. 10 percent of the so called luxury products were found to be shoddy. Problems ranged from unqualified color fastness to excess PH value and formaldehyde content.

Wang Xiao, Shanghai Inspection & Quarantine Bureau, said, "For the products that fail to meet the national technical regulations, we send them back or destroy them on the spot."

Besides the products themselves, their Chinese labels were also found to be far from satisfactory. Only ten percent met national standards. Inaccurate labelling can mislead customers about what they are buying. The authority urged the exporting companies to ensure accuracy before shipping the products to China.

Starting this year, the Shanghai Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau will step up efforts to inspect every batch of garments and accessories coming from abroad.