Despite IKEA's recalls of its problematic dressers in North America after they were found to crush the bodies of six children and cause their deaths, the Swedish furniture company's aloofness in the Chinese market stirred up a big controversy.

Although it agreed on July 12, 2016 to recall 1.66 million Malm chests and dressers sold from 1999 to 2016 in China after a talk with the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, its double standards, akin to those adopted in the recall cases of Volkswagen sedans, Toshiba laundry driers, Nikon cameras and Land Rover SUVs, have given humiliation to Chinese customers.

Zhu Wei, deputy director of the research center of laws of communication at the China University of Political Science and Law, said the dichotomy of the after-service policies designed by overseas manufacturers reflects the loose penalties of China's laws and regulations considering protecting the rights and interests of domestic customers.

"Europe and the United States in particular have attached great importance to the rules of recalls and the latter imposes severe penalties [irresponsible after service]," Zhu said.

"Even though China has noted the importance of the recalling mechanism in recent years, the cost of violating laws remains low, which acts as a major cause for the overseas companies to have double standards," he explained.

Zhu said, the penalties in China all focus on the compensation towards individual costumers, who, after receiving two to three times the reimbursements, may find the punishment is much lighter than the recall of such a massive size.

The companies will be at stake every time they are found selling problematic products without announcing a recall in the United States. But in China, the story is different.

"The customers are not quite as aware of the differences between minor flaws and dysfunctions of the products as the former can be remedied while the latter is irreparable," Zhu said.

According to IKEA, the furnishing chain store did not offer a recalling service in the Chinese market in the beginning as the products they recalled in North America reached the safety standards issued in China.

The market in North America has adopted ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) which requires the furniture to stand alone firmly even under external pressure. However, in China, the threshold for a piece of furniture to market is low.

In her alleged apology, Xu Lide, the public relation manager of IKEA China, said, "The recall of IKEA China's qualified dressers and chests was aimed to arouse the people's awareness of dangers resulting from the collapse of furniture and call on them to take preventive measures in advance."

"The best way for furniture to stop toppling is to place them against the wall," the PR manager added.

However, in Zhu's opinion, Xu's remark is more of an excuse to avoid duties than a sincere apology.

"This is not something about awareness but rather a flaw of design which the company is reluctant to admit, creating this made-up rhetoric,"criticized Zhu.

He pointed out that the double standards of IKEA showed not only a case of flawed products, but also an apparent sense of discrimination of Chinese customers.

Zhu said the Chinese government should learn from western countries to impose stringent administrative penalties and downgrade credit notches or even reregulate the business scope of the furnishing company in addition to recalls.

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