THE PARENTS OF PUPILS at a primary school in the Xicheng district of Beijing told the media their children suffer from health problems, which they blame on the school's plastic running track. Ifeng.com comments:

What happened in Xicheng is not an isolated incident. There have been similar reports nationwide about pupils suffering health problems blamed on bad plastic running tracks that prove to not meet the country's quality standards.

In several previous cases, children have developed serious diseases such as leucopenia because of problematic running tracks. Even if the producers of the substandard plastic running tracks and the officials who decided to purchase them are held responsible, the damage caused to the health of these children has already been done.