Two Chinese plastic companies and their executives are facing trials in Beijing on accounts of alleged production and sale of substandard plastic insulation boards that contributed to a well-publicized blaze involving the state-owned China Central Television.

Beijing Tian Jiang Building Materials Co. Ltd. and Langfang Huaneng New Building Materials Co. Ltd. of Hebei province each supplied extruded polystyrene insulation boards that failed to meet China's B2-grade flame-resistance standards.

The contractor of the CCTV building failed to check the quality of the products. Moreover, after the Beijing Quality Supervision Bureau caught the poorly made boards by Beijing Tian Jiang, the contractor switched to Langfang Huaneng but kept the authorities in the dark.

"While aware of their lack of quality materials, production techniques and inspection methods, Beijing Tian Jiang and Langfang Huaneng manufactured insulation boards and supplied them along with products purchased from other companies, without proper quality control or inspection", prosecutors said in the filing.

An executive at the construction company is being sued for obstruction of justice as he tried to cover up the facts after the fire. Meantime, a city official who was responsible for the quality supervision of the CCTV building also faces charges for alleged neglect of duty.

The CCTV building used more than 1 million yuan worth of plastic insulation boards.

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