SHANGHAI, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday granted its approval to four solely foreign-invested firms to carry out the inspections and testing of imports and exports.

    The companies include Shanghai Specialized Technology Resources (STR) Co., Ltd, Bivac International's Shanghai subsidiary and two more in the provinces of Guangdong and Zhejiang, said the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

    STR, based in the United States, and Bivac International, based in France, are world leading companies in pre-shipment and post-shipment inspection of goods.

    The move is in line with China's commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO), in which the country promised to fully open its imports and exports inspection market to foreign investors after December 11, 2005.

    Experts believe the new effort will help to cope with the increasing number of inspections and tests resulting from China's fast growing foreign trade.