The Chinese government is to set a single national standard on mobile phone chargers sold in the country to avoid waste and to lower costs, the Ministry of Information Industry (MII) has announced.

Under the new standard, all mobile phones, regardless of the brand, will be able to share one charger with a USB access, allowing users to charge handsets through laptops.

The unified standard will cut the cost of a new handset and reduce electronic waste and consumption of resources, an MII official said.

The official said no deadline had been set, so as to allow charger makers to adjust their production.

China has almost 450 million cell phone subscribers, with up to 100 million replacing their phones every year. The chargers are often disposed of with the phones.

Under the new standard, cell phone manufacturers are expected to change their sales strategy, putting an end to the package sales of cell phones and chargers to save resources.

Lou Peide, executive secretary general with China Mobile Communications Association, estimated the new standard could save nearly 2.4 billion yuan (US$306 million) each year for handsets made in China if the cost of each charger was seven to eight yuan.

(Xinhua News Agency December 20, 2006)