This is not only the Chinese speciality.. and not a new problem -
have a look here, year 2006:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1526...ry-recall.html
Only a limited number of battery manufactures are really making LiIon cells.. and they all depend on even smaller number of material suppliers..
I remember the similar problem 15-20 (?) years ago, this time it was with exploding tantalum electrolytic capacitors, tantalum powder manufactured by Union Carbide was contaminated.. resulting in recall of virtually all tant caps from the world market, and shortages that affected industry for couple of months, if not a full year.
This is just a global market.. nothing more, nothing less.