China newly approved three national standards of children's clothing, which will be formally implemented from Aug 1, 2009. The details of these three standards are listed as below:

• GB/T 22702-2008 Standard Safety Size for Drawstrings on Children's Upper Wear
• GB/T 22704-2008 Code of Practice for the Design and Manufacture of Children's Clothing to Promote Mechanical Safety
• GB/T 22705-2008 Safety Specifications for Cords and Drawstrings on Children's Clothing

The "Standard Safety Size for Drawstrings on Children's Upper Wear" prescribes the safety requirements of drawstrings on upper wear for children under the age of 14 in accordance with children's clothing parts (hood and neck, waist and lap, etc.), and determines the specifications of drawstring in accordance with the age of children (infant, children and adolescents). The "Safety Specifications for Cords and Drawstrings on Children's Clothing" prescribes the safety requirements of cords and drawstrings on clothing for children under the age of 14, but does not cover the specifications of them. These requirements are made on the basis of the different parts of children's clothing (hood and neck, waist, clothing lap, sleeves, etc.). The "Code of Practice for the Design and Manufacture of Children's Clothing to Promote Mechanical Safety" sets rules for materials, design and production of clothing for children under the age of 14. It offers a comprehensive exposition on the important issues of mechanical safety of children's clothing concerning pre-exchanging of information, materials and parts purchasing, design, production procedure as well as testing and inspection of materials and clothing.

At present, China's national standards on children's clothing include "Children's Clothing and Students' Wear", "Knitted School Uniform", "Infant's Wear" and "knitted Garment and Adornment for Infant". The basic standards include "Size Designation of Clothes - Children". The method standards include "Location and Method of Infant's Anthropometric Surveys for Garment", etc.

Different from the adults' garment standard system, the children's garment standard system shall be established with consideration of children's physical characteristics. Children's clothing standards were mainly product standards and fundamental standards previously. The product standard was usually about quality issues such as physical and chemical properties, appearance and quality; and the fundamental standard was mainly about types and sizes, and body measurement methods etc. The latest series of children's safety standards for the first time focus on the appearance of children's clothing and mechanical injury risks. To protect children from dangers, the new standards prescribe the safety size for drawstrings of children's upper wear, the safety specifications for cords and drawstrings on children's clothing, as well as code of practices for materials, design and production.

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