Just weeks after fake milk power killed at least 13 Chinese babies, 80 children were rushed to hospital with high fever and symptoms of food poisoning believed to have been caused by milk powder, Xinhua news agency said.

The children fell sick at two kindergartens in Guiyang, capital of the southwestern province of Guizhou, on Thursday.

“Most of the children in our hospital are now in stable condition except some who lost too many body fluids due to repeated vomiting,” Xinhua quoted a paediatrician at a hospital that treated 56 of the children as saying.

Sales of the suspected milk powder had been suspended by the city government as investigations continued, Xinhua said.

Billions of dollars worth of counterfeit and substandard goods are produced in China every year and mass food poisoning cases are commonplace.

News of the deaths from malnutrition of the 13 babies in impoverished Anhui province after drinking fake milk powder sparked a national outcry and drew the attention of top leaders.