China, US, Europe agree to step up e-commerce safety supervision

China, the United States and the European Commission will intensify cooperation to better supervise cross-border e-commerce consumer products, according to a joint statement released on Wednesday. 

"The development of e-commerce has created new challenges for government authorities responsible for consumer product quality, in particular concerning the supervision of the safety of products sold online," the statement said.

"The tripartite participants recognized the importance of strengthening international consumer product safety cooperation, in line with the participants' respective legal frameworks, to ensure efficient enforcement actions against economic operators and to reinforce the safety of consumer products sold online."

The statement was released during the ongoing fifth Consumer Product Safety Trilateral Summit between China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the United States' Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the European Commission's Directorate General for Justice and Consumers.

The three sides also agreed on intensified cooperation in other areas, such as the recall of hazardous products, to ensure consumers in the three regions have access to safe products, said Sun Dawei, deputy minister in charge of the administration.

China is the biggest trade partner and exporter to the United States, and the biggest exporter to the European Commission, according to the administration. 

Last year, bilateral trade between China and the US exceeded $558 billion, while between China and Europe it exceeded $566 billion, the administration said.