Beijing (AP) — China has banned imports of a gas-fired generator made by General Electric Co., saying it has design defects that could cause large-scale accidents, a government news agency said Friday.
A GE spokesman said the company is fixing the problem. He said that while the defect is a safety concern, GE does not believe it could cause a large-scale accident.
China’s State Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said four PG9171E generators in the southern city of Shenzhen were found to have problems and warned consumers to stop using that type of generator, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Geoff Li, a spokesman at GE’s China headquarters in Shanghai, said the company identified a problem in June and has been working with consumers to fix 24 defective generators in China.
“Experts said the problem was due to defects in product design and manufacturing and could cause large-scale accidents,” Xinhua said. It didn’t give any details.
“We don’t think that statement is accurate,” Li said, but added that the problem was a “safety concern.”
Li said he couldn’t give any more details because he didn’t have the necessary technical information.
“In the past two months, GE has been actively working with customers, relevant government departments and industry experts to implement the recommended modification,” a company statement said.
Li said the problem occurred with General Electric PG171E gas turbines that were coupled with a GE 9A5 generator.
Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE is asking China to lift the ban because PG9171E gas turbines coupled with other generators have no problems and 9A5 generators being manufactured now no longer have the same flaw, Li said.