BEIJING (AFP) - Sixteen people died on Tuesday in a fire at a shoe factory in eastern China, state media reported, a blaze which highlights poor workplace safety standards in the country.

A total of 20 people were rescued from the fire at the Dadong Shoes factory in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, China Central Television said in a post on its site on Sina Weibo, a Chinese version of Twitter.

The blaze, which started in the afternoon engulfed an area of 800 sq m, said the report, which did not give details on what caused the fire.

Workplace safety standards can be poor in China, where fatal accidents happen regularly at mines and factories, with some blaming lax enforcement of rules.

A fire at a poultry plant in the northeastern province of Jilin in June killed 120 and injured at least 70, in China's deadliest blaze in over a decade.