China’s polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foam industry needs to adopt higher standards and keep up with technology advancements to become competitive, a top official from the country’s plastic processing association said late on Sunday. “The ongoing financial crisis has dragged down China’s PVC foam exports,” Liao Zhengpin, chairman of the China Plastics Processing Industry Association, said in Mandarin at Cross-Strait Plastics Industry Summit 2009 in Guangzhou, ahead of Chinaplas 2009. “By establishing tighter product standards and creating a platform for exchanging technical know-how, Chinese PVC foam exporters can improve their productivity and competitiveness,” Liao added. According to a report presented at the summit, product standards for solid PVC foam board had failed to keep up with technological advances. This had created a wide disparity in product quality across the industry. A similar trend was seen in the rapidly expanding hollow PVC foam board industry, where large manufacturers created their own product standards, the report said. Liao said the PVC foam market should be encouraged to grow as it was a relatively environment friendly industry. The material was often an ideal substitute for wood and could be manufactured using components of recycled plastic