After the intervention of China's top quality watchdog, Samsung China has announced that it will recall the 1,858 units of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 phones Wednesday (Sept. 14) onwards.

All 1,858 devices, which were preordered from the official Samsung website ahead of its Sept. 1 release, will be replaced with a brand new device free of cost, according to a statement issued by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) on Wednesday.

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The recall comes in the wake of several cases of exploding Note 7 batteries. The Korean smartphone maker halted the sales of the smartphone in 10 countries, except China, claiming that the Note 7 handsets sold in China included safer batteries and were obtained from a different supplier.

Samsung's special treatment for the Chinese market has not reduced concerns about the safety of the Galaxy Note 7 devices. Consumers should find out why the company uses a separate quality standard for China, industry expert said Liu Xingliang said in a Sina report.

Samsung has not yet released the sales numbers of the Note 7 in China, apart from the 1,858 pre-orders but data obtained from Samsung's official retail shop on Tmall, which is one of its major online sales platforms, reveals that more than 12,000 Note 7 units have been sold in the country up until Wednesday.

China's Civil Aviation Administration and several other Chinese airlines have banned the use of the handsets and have also prohibited passengers from charging the devices while flying or checking them in with baggage, according to ZDNet.

Tagschina, Samsung, Samsung Galaxy Note 7, Galaxy Note 7, Note 7, Note 7 exploding battery, Galaxy Note 7 exploding battery, exploding battery, Samsung Note 7