China's Infant Clothing Standard will come into effect in October 2008, – the first national standard especially for infant clothing safety in China.
All the clauses that are related to infant clothing safety are to be regarded as mandatory requirements.
There are technical requirements on zipper sliders, collar band size, and heavy metal residues for the safety of infants who like to bite and pull at their clothing.
Heavy metal concentrations in infant clothing should be less than: arsenic 0.2 milligram per kilogram and copper 25 milligram per kilogram. The highest concentration of formaldehyde should not be more than 20 milligram per kilogram. The pH value of the clothing should be somewhere between 4.0 and 7.5.
In addition, labels of infant clothing must have a "Do Not Dry Clean" warning on them since there might be irritant substances in the dry-cleaning agent.
Currently most infant clothing in the market is not marked with "Do Not Dry Clean", and most citizens are unfamiliar with the standard.