Blood tests on 968 children in China's biggest lead smelting base have shown excessive lead levels.

The health bureau of Jiyuan City, in the central Henan Province, initiated the tests after a lead poisoning scandal was exposed in the neighboring Shaanxi Province.

Since Aug. 20, the city government had provided blood tests for 2,743 children under the age of 14, who lived near three major smelters, said Wei Zongchang, director of the Jiyuan health bureau, Tuesday.

"The news (of excessive lead levels) is like an earthquake. We are all worried about the health of our kids," said Li Hongwei, a resident of Shibin Village.

Some villagers in Shibin demonstrated in front of the smelters late last month, holding banners saying, "Without health, what are we farming for?" and "Give us back blue sky, give us back clean water."

Duan Xizhong, secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Jiyuan committee, said the city government had suspended production at 32 of the 35 electrolytic lead plants and on the pollution-prone production lines of the other three major plants.