Many portable phone chargers have less capacity than claimed, and some have potential safety hazards, China Central Television reported yesterday.

More than half the portable chargers out of 32 tested by China's top quality watchdog were found to have a lower capacity than marked on the packaging, CCTV said.

About two-thirds of chargers marked with a capacity of more than 10,000 milliamperes (mA) could not reach that figure, with some falling considerably short, according to tests by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China.

The real capacity of nine portable chargers, including those from Xiaomi — one of the most popular Chinese smartphone brands — Aibiku and Aoyu was less than half that marked on the packaging, and the deviation rate of one which had no producer information was 74.6 percent.

For one 5,600mA portable power charger, the actual capacity was just 1,421mA, which meant it could not charge even one smartphone at a time, officials said.

Six burst into flames in short-circuit tests while the plastic shells of 27 chargers had poor flame resistance, officials said.

The chargers were bought online and from stores in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing. They ranged in price from 9.90 yuan (US$1.59) to more than 200 yuan.

CCTV said that more than 50 million portable chargers are expected to be manufactured in China next year.

A sales assistant in a Beijing market told CCTV that it was common to exaggerate the capacity of portable chargers. Usually they were 80 percent less than claimed on the packaging, something the customer would not know until later.

Most portable charger producers and sales companies are in Shenzhen, CCTV said.

While demand for portable chargers is rising rapidly, there is no standard in China to regulate the emerging market and it is urgent to have one in place, said Lin Bin, an expert with the Shenzhen Academy of Metrology and Quality Inspection.



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