Japan-based Honda Motor and its two partner car makers in China were ordered to recall more than half a million vehicles due to possibly fatal defective air bags, Chinese authorities announced on Tuesday.

The recall of 569,769 cars --- with air bags made by Japan's Takata Corporation --- will begin on February 28, 2015.

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A Honda spokesman in Beijing confirmed "potentialy defective" air bags were the reason for the recall, adding there has been record of malfunctions or injuries related to the defect in China so far.

The partner company of Honda and Guangzhou Automobile, GAC-Honda, reported a recall of 527,136 Accord cars made between May 17, 2002 and December 25, 2007 due to the driver's side air bags, said the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) in a website statement.

State regulators have announced potentially damaged airbags could cause "shell fragments to fly" and this could hurt car passengers. Authorities said these are clearly potential safety risks. China's quality watchdog did not zero in on any particular make of the airbags.

In the US, regulators ordered Takata in December to go ahead with an expansion across the country of the regional recall, but Takata failed to follow the order, effectively putting the responsibility for voluntary recalls on car makers.

Car makers have recalled close to 20 million vehicles since 2008 for defective Takata air bag parts, which have been blamed for five deaths. Honda, Takata's top client, has so far recalled nearly 13-and-a-half million cars, most of them in the United States.

GAC-Honda is also expected to recall 16,505 Fit Saloon cars rolled out between Oct. 30, 2002 and Dec. 30, 2003, AQSIQ said.

Dongfeng-Honda, a partnership of Honda and Dongfeng Motor, is set to recall 26,128 Elysion MPVs made between June 4, 2012 and June 17, 2014 also due to defective driver side air bags, China's quality watchdog added.

TagsTakata airbag, defective airbag, Honda, car recall