China's quality watchdog has banned imports of gas-fired generators made by General Electric (GE) due to safety problems.

Local quality supervision departments should stop procedures for imports of PG9171E generators, said an announcement by the State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

A PG9171E generator imported to Shenzhen in February 2004 was reported to have problems in operation on June 4 this year.

The same problem happened to three other sets in Shenzhen and two of them have stopped operation.

Experts said the problem was due to defects in product design and manufacturing and could cause large scale accidents.

People using the generators should stop immediately, the announcement said.