Exclusive Look Inside Chinese Toy Factories

Oct. 30, 2007— -- All over China, toys are being dropped, pulled apart, and set on fire as part of the so-called "special war," to convince the world that China's products are safe.

With its "Made in China" brand battered by recent recalls, the Chinese government invited ABC News to visit, but ABC's David Kerley says he only saw what they wanted him to see.

Kerley was brought to a factory which employs 10,000 people, and has never had a recall in the past 10 years. The factory makes toys for Mattel and other American companies.

The manager of the factory said there are only a few problem factories, and that it's wrong to think all Chinese manufacturers are the same.

A state of the art shrimp factory opened its doors to Kerley as well, but he wasn't taken to smaller factories that are suspected of making unsafe products.

The government was happy to also show their labs, which test food and toys, but only a fraction of the $300 billion of goods sold to America ever comes through these labs.

One safety official — Chuanzhong Wei, vice minister of China's General Administration of Quality, Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine — told Kerley that they have learned serious lessons from the recalls, but instead of accepting blame, he said the western press distorted the recalls.

When Kerley asked him what was distorted about western coverage of the recalls, his only answer was that the reports on the "Made in China" brand were not objective.

Then, he offered to show something few have seen before — China's "big brother" at work.

The safety agency in China uses a high-tech way to keep an eye on manufacturing in the country. More than 1,000 cameras from around the country can be plugged into a video wall, where factories, ports, and people crossing the border are monitored. Even with this technology, only a fraction of China's manufacturing machine is under watch.

The Chinese claim progress, but Congressman John Dingell, D-Mich., just sent investigators to the country, who found large lapses in Chinese standards.

"When the Chinese get up to where they should be, I'll probably be amongst the first patting them on the back," Dingell said. "But I would say this, don't let your beard grow till then, because it will be long and gray."