CHENGDU, Jan.9 (NBD) -- 99 of 160 batches of facial mask samples in eastern China's Jiangsu province failed to pass the quality standard, with an inferior rate of 61.9%， a survey recently conducted by Jiangsu Quality and Technical Supervision Bureau showed.

14 out of the 20 batches of facial masks which were produced in Jiangsu are unqualified.

For the masks priced below 10 yuan (1.44 US dollars), 79.3% are found defective. For those priced between 10 to 30 yuan (1.44 to 4.33 US dollars), 11 batches have problems. However, those priced above 30 yuan (4.33 US dollars) are all qualified.

The number of mask producers in China has surged from 500 in 2013 to about 1000, according to Xinhua's report. On average, the annual demand for masks in China is about 800 million pieces and civilian masks account for 25%.

Email: tanyuhan@nbd.com.cn