China to Mattel: play nicely. Having endured a long, hot summer of US criticism about slap-dash manufacturing and dangerous goods, Beijing has bitten back. Yesterday, Mattel made an astonishing apology, recognising that its three recalls of toys over the summer had more to do with design flaws than shoddy Chinese manufacturing. It also said it had recalled some products that turned out to comply with US standards.

When it comes to China, it is all too easy to get lost in big numbers. Mattel's product recall issued on August 14 began by announcing it was withdrawing 436,000 Chinese-made toy cars for containing high levels of lead paint. Further down, the company said it was also recalling some other toys because they contained a type of powerful magnet that could be dangerous if swallowed by a child. The number? More than 18m.