IKEA, or Yijia (宜家), recalled 29 million pieces of furniture in the United States two weeks ago after its products were blamed for accidents leading to the deaths of at least six toddlers.

Initially, IKEA did not extend the recall to Europe or China, claiming that their products fulfill current safety regulations in those regions already. However, after severe backlash on social media from Chinese consumers and harsh criticism published on multiple Chinese news and media outlets the Swedish furniture company agreed to negotiations for a potential recall in China as well.

In the past couple of years, scandals such as with the tainted baby formula and the concern over the sources of materials used by fast food chains like McDonald’s and KFC have made consumers increasingly wary and vigilant about product safety. As a response, the government has increased stringent product safety regulations, extending their implementation to the products of foreign companies as well. Government organizations in major Chinese cities including Shenzhen, Tianjin, and Nanjing all issued statements denouncing IKEA’s decision not to extend their recall to China.

On Tuesday, IKEA announced that it will extend its recall to China, but still not to Europe. IKEA will recall 1.7 million chests and dressers in China. Up to now, IKEA has enjoyed a strong and positive reputation in China, with many consumers visiting its stores to purchase products as well as to just sit in the restaurants to relax or eat. IKEA’s sales in China during the fiscal year ended in September totaled to a sum of $1.55 billion. This recent decision to extend its recall under pressure from consumers in China shows the growing strength and influence of the Chinese consumer market.

With the growth China has experienced in the past few decades, China’s consumers are becoming more selective with their purchases. Furthermore, through the widespread use of social media today, consumers have the power to exert significant amounts of pressure on companies with large incomes from retail like IKEA, as this case illustrates.

Source: “Ikea Extends Recall to China After Criticism”

According to the China IKEA English recall page, the furniture retailer received reports that PATRULL safety gates have come undone, and therefore they are urging customers to stop use immediately:

“IKEA has received customer reports where PATRULL safety gates have opened unexpectedly and children have fallen down stairs. Some of the incidents have required medical attention. A third party investigation has shown that the locking mechanism is not reliable, posing a risk for small children, despite approved tests to applicable standards.”

Their child safety policy is at first glance a refreshing and welcome stance in a country full of scandal, from vaccines to formula to school running tracks.

“At IKEA, we have a zero tolerance regarding child safety. We want to offer safe and healthy products and we think that children are the most important people in the world. Whenever we get indications of a possible safety issue with any of our products, we act. We cannot accept that there is a risk of injury while playing and as an immediate and precautionary action we recall all PATRULL safety gates,” says Maria Thörn, Acting Business Area Manager at Children´s IKEA.

In addition, CHOKLAD MÖRK 60% and CHOKLAD MÖRK 70% are being recalled “due to presence of milk and hazelnuts being insufficiently declared.” This presents an obvious problem for those with allergies.

Beijing customers can take both chocolate bars and safety gates to any IKEA store for a full refund.

Although these recalls are specific to China, expats and Chinese parents should be aware of the recent recall in the United States of America. Based on a voluntary industry standard, they’re recalling approximately 29 million units of the MALM dressers and chest drawers along with miscellaneous adult and children units in the US and Canada.

Three death incidents involving the MALM chests have been recorded, two in 2014 and one in February 2016.  “None of the chests or dressers in the [three]incidents had been anchored to the wall” reported the USCPSC.

“In addition to the three deaths, IKEA received reports of 41 tip-over incidents involving the MALM chests and dressers, resulting in 17 injuries to children between the ages of 19 months and 10 years old,” the recall stated.

Customers in the US can take the dressers back to any store in the US for a full refund. Alternatively, customers can apply for a free wall anchor kit, as the tip-over threat is removed when properly anchored to the wall, as explained in the original directions.

These incidents have no doubt spurred on IKEA’s recent campaign released on their weibo account to educate about the importance of using wall anchors – which were neglected in the cases of the child deaths.

In a statement issued to bloggers Sixth Tone, Ikea China spokeswoman Xu Lide said there have been no complaints and no accidents reported in China and the store does not intend to issue a recall.

Sources: USCPSC, IKEA PATRULL Recall, IKEA MALM Recall, IKEA CHOKLAD MÖRK Recall, Sixth Tone, and IKEA Weibo.