Proctor & Gamble China announced on Friday that it will suspend the sale of SK-II cosmetics in China until the final results of government quality checks have been released.

By press time, SK-II counters in many Beijing shopping centers had been closed. At the Sogo Shopping Mall, just one salesperson remained to deal with customers asking for refunds.

P&G started accepting SK-II product returns from mainland consumers on Monday, but insisted that the skin whitening product manufactured in Japan had no quality problems.

Customers returning products must sign an agreement declaring that the products are up to standard.

The company declined to disclose the amount and value of merchandise recovered so far.

A consumer scare occurred this week after the China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine found traces of chromium and neodymium in nine SK-II product lines.

Chromium can cause allergic reactions such as skin rash while neodymium is irritating to the eyes and skin and can cause lung embolisms and do harm to the liver if it accumulates in the human body.

On Thursday, the Shanghai Municipal Food and Drug Supervision Administration announced that the same substances had been detected in another three types of SK-II product.

The latest find has made SK-II's market prospects even gloomier as the State General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine had already announced that China would ban imports of SK-II products if further problems were found.

Source: Xinhua