Sept. 22 (Bloomberg) -- China's chief quality supervisor was replaced as the number of children sickened by chemical- tainted milk reached almost 53,000 and countries from Asia to Africa curbed sales of dairy products from the nation.

Li Changjiang resigned after seven years as chief of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the official Xinhua News Agency said today. Premier Wen Jiabao has ordered an overhaul of the dairy industry after products of 22 companies were found to contain melamine.

Taiwan banned all dairy products from mainland China today, while Marudai Food Co. in Japan and Nestle SA in Hong Kong announced product recalls. The scandal has claimed the lives of four infants and revived concerns about the effectiveness of China's food safety controls after scares last year over contaminated seafood, toothpaste and pet food.

``That shows that they're serious,'' said Jim Rice, greater China country manager for Springdale, Arkansas-based Tyson Foods Inc., who has worked with China's food regulator. ``Now this means a new guy with new ideas and maybe a new quality assurance system. It could be a healthy shakeup.''

Officials Fired

Wang Yong, former secretary-general of the State Council, China's cabinet, has replaced Li, Xinhua said. Li, 63, is the highest-ranking official to be brought down by the scandal, which has also led to the firing of six officials including the Communist Party chief, mayor and vice mayor of Shijiazhuang city in Hebei province, according to the agency.

The Chinese Communist Party today fired Wu Xianguo, the highest-ranking party representative in Shijiazhuang city, Xinhua said.

China Mengniu Dairy Co., the country's biggest producer of liquid milk, will boost inspections and controls over raw materials to safeguard standards in future, it said in a Hong Kong stock exchange statement. It has also recalled affected products.

Most of the infants seeking treatment have crystal-like sediments in their urinary systems, the Health Ministry said today, citing experts from the Chinese Medical Association. These sediments are usually flushed out if the baby drinks more water, it said. Some weren't able to pass out the melamine because of unusual conditions, so the sediments crystallized into stones, according to the statement.

Milk Recalls

China's Ministry of Health said on Sept. 11 it found melamine in baby formula made by Shijiazhuang-based Sanlu Group Co., 43 percent owned by Auckland, New Zealand-based Fonterra Cooperative Group Ltd.

The chemical, used to make plastics and tan leather, can disguise the fact that milk has been diluted by increasing the apparent protein content.

Melamine-tainted milk has been linked to the hospitalization of 12,892 infants and the sickening of another 39,965 babies.

Nestle, the world's largest food company, said today it would comply with a request from the Hong Kong Centre For Food Safety to recall 1 liter catering Dairy Farm UHT pure milk, which isn't sold directly to the public.

In Taiwan, closely held King Car Food Industrial Co. recalled its instant chicken-corn soup, milk tea and Mr. Brown coffee drinks after finding traces of melamine during voluntary tests of products using ingredients imported from mainland China, the island's health ministry said.

Nestle Milk

``The fact that the melamine problem in milk was initially a Chinese problem already had caused concern outside the borders of China,'' John Eldred, managing partner of law firm Keller and Heckman LLP in Shanghai, said in a phone interview today. ``Whenever China has a problem domestically, it is going to receive considerable attention overseas.''

Hong Kong's two largest supermarket chains, Wellcome and ParkNShop, withdrew Nestle's milk products after traces of the chemical were found. Nestle said yesterday the amount was minute and wasn't considered harmful. No other Nestle products are affected, the company said in a statement today.

Vitasoy International Holdings Ltd. jumped 13 percent to a record in Hong Kong trading after Starbucks Corp., the world's biggest coffee-shop chain, switched to using the company's soy milk in its China outlets from Mengniu products.

Three Biggest Producers

China's three biggest dairy producers by market value -- Inner Mongolia Yili Industrial Group Co., Mengniu and Bright Dairy & Food Co. -- are among companies that made products containing melamine, according to the government.

Mengniu's stock will resume trading tomorrow in Hong Kong after being suspended since Sept. 17. Bright Dairy surged 10 percent to 4.48 yuan in Shanghai trading today, trimming this year's loss to 65 percent. Yili rose 1.4 percent to 11.03 yuan, after earlier falling as much as 9 percent. Yili has lost 55 percent of its market value this year.

The quality administration ordered the immediate recall and destruction last week of melamine-tainted products made by 22 of the 109 Chinese companies that produce infant milk.

Singapore banned the importation and sale of all milk from China, with retailers ordered to conduct immediate recalls. Malaysia's health ministry has banned all milk from China, Agence France-Presse said Sept. 20. Gabon and Burundi, which received contaminated dairy exports, have imposed limits on sales of Chinese milk, Reuters reported today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nerys Avery in Beijing at navery2@bloomberg.net; Janet Ong in Taipei at jong3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 22, 2008 11:42 EDT