【英语中国】中国又曝“毒”泳衣事件

Pity the long-suffering Chinese consumer: as if tainted milk were not enough, poisoned swimsuits have now been found polluting the shelves of some of Shanghai’s top-end shopping malls.

According to today’s official Shanghai Daily, some swimsuits and sportswear on display at two of the poshest malls on the city’s swanky Nanjing West shopping street have failed a government quality check, because they could cause skin infections or “damage to the neurosurgical system”.

The Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau said nearly one in three batches tested were defective. The paper also said some bathing suits were “too flabby to wear” (presumably more of a fashion than a health risk).

Chinese consumers have become increasingly sensitive to the safety of consumer goods, and Beijing has responded by making its regulators increasingly vocal about protecting the national health.

But they have a long way to go before consumers trust them with their babies, or their bared flesh: comments on one consumer notice board after the bathing suit recall noted that testing swimsuits after summer ends is strange timing. (Another cynical consumer commented that swimwear that failed inspection may merely have failed to pay adequate inducement to the inspector).

Every such story is more good news for foreign brands, though: many consumers think it’s worth paying that little bit more, to keep the “neurosurgeon” from the door.

真同情逆来顺受的中国消费者：好像毒奶粉事件还不够似的，现在，上海一些高档购物中心的货架上又发现了“毒”泳衣。

根据昨日官方报纸《上海日报》(Shanghai Daily)的报道，在上海时尚的购物街南京西路上，两家最高档购物中心出售的部分泳衣和运动装，因可能会导致皮肤感染或“对神经系统造成伤害”，而未能通过政府的质量检测。

上海市工商行政管理局(Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau)表示，近三分之一的受检商品存在缺陷。该报告还称，一些泳衣“松得没法穿”（这一评价可能是从时尚而非健康风险角度出发）。

由于中国消费者对消费品的安全性越来越敏感，北京方面授意监管部门越来越公开表达对国民健康的保护。

但要让消费者相信他们、放心让自己的孩子或裸露的肌肤使用相关产品，他们还有很长一段路要走：泳衣召回事件发生后，某一消费者论坛里有评论指出，选择在夏天结束之时检测泳衣很诡异。（另一位心存怀疑的消费者评论道，某些泳衣之所以未能通过检测，可能只是因为厂商给检测人员送的钱不够多。）

不过，对外国品牌而言，每次出现这种事情都是好消息：许多消费者认为，宁可多花一点钱，也不要去看“神经外科医生”。

译者/何黎