China Compulsory Certificates, which are safety certificates for many products sold in China, will be implemented for children safety seats starting September 1.
Child Safety Seats (also known as Child Restraint Systems) are seats designed specifically to protect children from injury or death during collisions. A World Health Organization report shows that child restraints reduce the likelihood of a fatal crash by approximately 70% among infants and between 54% and 80% among young children.
According to the regulation, all sellers, including e-commerce merchants, have to obtain the China compulsory certification when selling the products. Imported child safety seats have to comply with regulations under the China Compulsory Certification Management on Child Safety Seats as well.
“The major function of child restraints is to protect child passengers in case of traffic accidents. The working mechanism of the system is, first of all, to restrain the child during the main impact of a crash,” says Ma Chunsheng, Associate Professor of the Department of Automotive Engineering of Tsinghua University.
There are legislations established in developed countries, such as the US and Europe, providing for child occupants to use child safety seats while in vehicles. However, in China, due to the lack of regulations and public awareness over the importance of the child safety seats, many parents think holding their baby in their arms is the best way to protect kids in vehicles.
China’s Ministry of Communications has found that nearly 20,000 children under 14 years old die each year from injuries in road collisions, but experts point out that with increasing public safety awareness, sales of child safety seats will surge in China.
According to the 2014 China Child Safety Seat Market Report issued by Market Research, the demand for child safety seats in China will post a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 68% during 2014-2017 and is expected to hit 8 million sets in 2017.
