Frequent traffic accidents have forced the Chinese government to tighten its inspection of passenger vehicles with more than nine seats, a senior official from the State Administration for Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said Wednesday.

Vice-director Han Yi of the Quality Control Department of the administration said that the nationwide quality overhaul will target larger vehicles because most road accidents are related to passenger transportation.

In 2004, a total of 852 people were killed in 55 severe road accidents. Of the number, thirty-two accidents or 58.2 percent were related to passenger vehicles, according to statistics from the Ministry of Public Security.

To remedy the situation, the administration has decided to enforce the recall of defective vehicles with more than nine seats by 2006. Han broke the news to representatives from more than 60 manufacturers here for a two-day international symposium on recalling defective automobile products.

To better protect the interests of manufacturers, Han said that a more detailed and specialized recalling method would be mapped out soon.

In March 2004, the administration issued a management method on recalling defective automobiles. Since then, about 318,000 cars of 16 models have been recalled by 15 manufacturers from the Chinese market.

Source: Xinhua