More than 74,000 people were identified as carrying "various types of infectious diseases," including AIDS and cholera, between January and November 2000.

Li Changjiang, director of the State Administration for Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine (SAIQ), Thursday claimed the agency had screened a million people entering or leaving China during the period.

Addressing the agency's annual national work conference in Beijing, he said the quarantine and inspection system nationwide had also checked 6.48 million batches of imports and exports -- worth US$204.6 billion -- in the first 11 months of 2000, disqualifying goods worth US$1.24 billion for low quality or other problems.

Only 3.1 million batches were checked throughout the whole of 1999, according to the agency's statistics.

Epidemics of Ebola bleeding fever, cholera, bird flu -- an illness among birds which can be fatal if eaten by humans -- "mad cow disease" and foot-and-mouth disease wreaked havoc in many countries last year, prompting extreme caution in the work of China's quarantine and inspection authorities.

Emergency measures were taken to prevent diseases from entering China.

"The agency released eight notices last year to ban imports of animals, plants and other products from countries and regions with bird flu, mad cow disease and Mediterranean fruit flies," he said.

The SAIQ helped to promote exports of quality Chinese products in 2000.

Better international cooperation and joint scientific research with foreign counterparts has enabled the SAIQ to break down countries' technical barriers against Chinese exports.

Chinese farmers now export products to several Western countries, where they were formerly denied access, and for the first time, lychees grown in Guangdong are sold in the United States. Chinese ornamental fish are again being exported to Italy, according to Li.

Inspection staff are also keeping a close eye on machinery and raw materials imports.

Some foreign businesses have been known to exaggerate the value of the goods they send to Chinese companies as investments.

The greater the investment, the larger the shareholding.

Between 1993 and November 2000, the SAIQ's commodity inspection departments examined such imports allegedly worth US$26.1 billion.

After examining the equipment, invoices and products, inspection staff found their actual value was only US$24.1 billion -- US$2 billion less than claimed, Li said.

Accurate valuations can save Chinese companies from huge economic disadvantages, he added.

(China Daily 01/12/2001)