CHINA:The Chinese toy factory owner at the centre of the storm over lead-tainted Sesame Street figures has killed himself, the state-run media reported yesterday. Zhang Shuhong, boss of a major supplier to Mattel, hanged himself at the weekend after his export licence was suspended and 1.5 million products were withdrawn because of fears about toys sold in the US and Europe.
He is the second high-profile fatality in a growing "Made in China" consumer safety scandal, following the execution last month of the former head of the food and drug watchdog. According to Xinhua news agency, Zhang's body was found in the warehouse of Lida Industries on Saturday.
The business, based in the manufacturing hub of southern Guangdong province, was devastated last week when Mattel recalled hundreds of thousands of Big Birds, Elmos, Dora the Explorers and other figures made for the Fisher-Price label.
Some were found to be coated in paint with excessive levels of lead. Lead can cause diarrhoea, vomiting and headaches in children. In very large quantities, it can result in death.
In the US, almost a million items have been sent back by worried parents or taken off the shelves of Wal-Mart and Toys R Us. In the UK and Ireland, Mattel has issued a warning and offered refunds for the 94,000 items that have been shipped into the market since May.
The company has sent investigators to China to trace the extent and the cause of the problem. After they identified Lida (also spelt Lee Der) as the main supplier, the government suspended its export licence. Lida is set to lose $30 million as a result of the scandal.
Zhang (50), from Hong Kong, is said to have spent his last morning talking to some of the 5,000 employees, whose jobs are now in jeopardy. The Southern Metropolitan Daily said Zhang felt betrayed by his closest friend, who owned the factory that supplied the paint and advertised it as lead-free.
The finger of blame has also been pointed at Mattel for apparently failing to enforce safety standards in its supply chain, at Chinese regulatory authorities for lax oversight and at overseas product-safety inspection systems for not identifying the problem more quickly.
More than 70 per cent of the world's toys are made in China, most of them in Guangdong province. In June, 1.5 million Thomas the Tank Engine products made by Hansheng Woodware were recalled in the US because of lead fears.
In recent months, overseas commerce representatives, health officials and politicians have raised concerns about products made in China. Alarms over poisoned pet food and dangerous toothpaste come amid growing trade friction over Beijing's huge trade surplus.
The head of the Food and Drug Safety Administration, Zheng Xiaoyu, was executed last month for accepting bribes in return for approving medicines that later proved to have deadly side-effects.