(HONG KONG) - The EU consumer protection chief praised Beijing Friday for improvements in product safety, but urged it to do more, saying Europe needed reliable Chinese goods.

Meglena Kuneva said factories she visited in the southern Chinese manufacturing hub Guangdong had demonstrated "they have full ability to comply with international safety standards," and hoped this could be replicated elsewhere.

"If one can make it, all the others can make it," the EU commissioner told reporters during a stopover in Hong Kong on a five-day China visit.

"We need your products. We would like your products to remain in our market, but only with the passport of safety."

The "Made-in-China" brand was gravely tainted when millions of Chinese export items ranging from toys to pet food were recalled globally in 2007 due to safety concerns.

Beijing revoked the export licences of 700 toy factories over safety failings on Wednesday after inspecting all 3,540 toy firms with the permits.

Kuneva, who earlier met with top-level ministers on product safety, praised Beijing's "goodwill" on the issue, but said the European Union would not confirm "everything is okay" until Chinese products could pass its safety tests.

"The challenge now is to make this result sustainable," she said, adding she hoped for a "very clear political commitment from China" at a high-level meeting to be held between the EU, China, and the US in November.

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