Actor Jackie Chan says it's time China got tough about upholding the law

Jackie Chan, whose outspoken comments have sparked several controversies, has reportedly urged Beijing to tighten law enforcement.

"We [Chinese] are too loose in law enforcement," the action film star told a panel meeting during a session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference on Monday, according to an online report by pro-Beijing newspaper Wen Wei Po.

He described travelling with a group of film directors who shrugged off warnings not to smoke from security guards in Zhuhai . Once in Singapore they did not dare flout the law, he said.

"Our law enforcement [in China] has to be stricter," Chan said with a dramatic slap on his desk, the report said. After touring Australia and Singapore, he realised China was the most lax in enforcing its laws.

He said he felt "heartbroken" when, during a tour of the United States, an American friend joked about China's food-safety problem. "If this problem cannot be solved, it will be our heartache forever," he said.

The panel was attended by other celebrities including Nobel Prize-winning author Mo Yan and film director Feng Xiaogang .

Chan also mentioned how actors on the mainland had been deprived of their rights.

"The director told us that each person was paid 800 yuan (HK$986) a day, but they ultimately received less than 80 yuan, the rest being eaten up by many [deductions]. And the safety of these actors was not guaranteed," he said, referring to action-movie actors.

Hong Kong-born Chan's outspoken comments have repeatedly attracted criticism. Most recently, in January, he sparked another controversy in a TV interview by branding America the world's "most corrupt" country.