BEIJING, China (AP) -- The head of a Chinese manufacturer whose lead-tainted Sesame Street toys were the center of a massive U.S. recall has killed himself, a state-run newspaper said Monday.

Two toys of the same kind recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Cheung Shu-hung, who co-owned Lee Der Industrial Co., committed suicide at a warehouse over the weekend, apparently by hanging himself, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.

"When I rushed there around 5 p.m., police had already sealed off the area," the newspaper quoted a manager surnamed Liu as saying. "I saw that our boss had two deep marks in his neck."

Though the report did not give a reason for Cheung's apparent suicide -- and the company declined to discuss the matter -- Lee Der was under pressure in a global controversy over the safety of Chinese made products.

It is common for disgraced officials to commit suicide in China.

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2007/news/made.in.china/index.html