Nearly 60% of “foreign-brand” liquor found in four major Chinese cities is fake, according to a random check carried out by the State Administration for Industry and Commerce.
The administration inspected 40 bottles, mostly cognac and whisky, in 19 retail outlets and found 23 with Hennessy, Remy Martin, Martell and certain Scotch whisky labels were fake, reported the Beijing Daily Messenger on Friday.
The counterfeit products were filled with substandard spirit and their packaging, including the “fake-proof” laser certificates, was realistic enough to fool ordinary consumers, the newspaper said.
Last year, a man in southern China was sentenced to death and 14 others jailed for manufacturing and selling liquor made with poisonous industrial formaldehyde that killed 14 and made 41 others ill.
Fake or substandard products abound in China due to insufficient monitoring by the government and lack of recourse for consumers.
Despite an abundance of laws, government departments often lack incentive to devote scarce manpower and resources to enforce them until highly publicised deaths and injuries occur, prompting the government to order a crackdown.
Fake products found in shops ranged from baby milk powder to medicines, including bird flu vaccines. A cultural relic exhibition last year in eastern China even sported fake terracota warriors.
Chinese-made counterfeit products such as VCDs and DVDs and even truffles reach as far as Europe and America. – AFP