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Edited by: Marie Louise Flach de Neergaard Minister Counsellor (Food, Agriculture & Fisheries) Anne Klinge Commercial Intern (Food, Agriculture & Fisheries)
PICT
Edited by:
Marie Louise Flach de Neergaard
Minister Counsellor
(Food, Agriculture & Fisheries)
Anne Klinge
Commercial Intern
(Food, Agriculture & Fisheries)
Food Team News – September 2013
1
Anne Klinge
Commercial Intern
+86 (10) 8532 9926
Mobile: +86 131 2137 7702
Lulu Li
Innovation Officer
+86 6085 2009
Mobile: +86 136 0186 6475
With the diverse academic and commercial backgrounds, offices in 4 geographical locations, a valuable network of
public institutions and private companies, and a mix of Chinese and Danish consultants the Food, Agriculture and
Fisheries team have extensive experience with assisting Danish companies entering the Chinese market.
Liu Qiang
Commercial Officer
+86 (10) 8532 9920
Mobile: +86 138 1126
2958
Lulu Li
Innovation Officer
+86 6085 2009
Mobile: +86 136 0186 6475
Shan He (Grace)
Commercial Officer
+86 (10) 8532 9915
Mobile: +86 138 1168 7696
Maria Rønde Holm
Commercial Intern
+86 (10) 8532 9926
Mobile: +86 134 146 475 905
Marie Louise Flach de Neergaard
Minister Counsellor, Team
Leader
+86 (10) 8532 9987
Mobile: +86 139 1023 5271
Daniela Zheng
Commercial Officer
+86 (23) 6372 5161
Mobile: +86 134 5236 0656
Huifang Jiang (Lydia)
Commercial Officer
+86 21 6209 0500 + 226
Mobile: + 86 139 1659 3810
Huifang Jiang (Lydia)
Commercial Officer
+86 21 6209 0500 + 226
Mobile: + 86 139 1659 3810
Li Guo
Commercial Officer
(+852) 8532 9995
Mobile: (+86) 13910143620
Jianru Cen (Jane)
Commercial Officer
+86 (20) 202 8797 320
Mobile: +86 139 2602 661
Food Team News – September 2013
2
News ................................................................................................................................................ 1
Ministry of Agriculture visit to Denmark in July ...................................................................................................................................... 3 Danish Veterinary and Food Administration bilateral meetings in Beijing 16-18 September .......................................................... 5 Launch of the Danish Footprint Network – The Embassy’s new CSR network ............................................................................... 6 4th China-Denmark Round Table of Pig Production 16 September 2013 ........................................................................................... 7 China-Denmark Seminar on Food Additives, 17 September 2013 ....................................................................................................... 8 Dairy HACCP Training to CNCA Inspectors .......................................................................................................................................... 9 Roundtable with AQSIQ on Infant Formula Supervision .................................................................................................................... 10 Dairy Legislation Briefing ........................................................................................................................................................................... 11 China International meat conference ........................................................................................................................................................ 13 Danish agriculture and food exports to China and Hong Kong ......................................................................................................... 14 Chinese food inflation ................................................................................................................................................................................. 15
News Flash ..................................................................................................................................... 16
Trade ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Agricultural reforms ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Dairy Products and Infant formula ........................................................................................................................................................... 17 Consumption ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 29 Foreign affairs ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 31 Prices ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 32 Poultry ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 32 Fisheries .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 35 Animal health ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 38 Food safety .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 38 Retailing .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 43 Environmental projects ............................................................................................................................................................................... 45
Food Team News – September 2013
3
29th of June to 3rd of July 2013 the first 1. meeting of the Chinese ministry of Agriculture and Danish Ministry
of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries DG-working group took place in Denmark. The program was arranged by the
Danish AgriFish Agency in cooperation with the Danish Embassy in Beijing.
6 delegation members came from the
Chinese Ministry of Agriculture led by
Tang Shengyao, Deputy Director
General, Department of International
Cooperation. From the Danish side the
Chinese delegation was welcomed by
Karsten Biering Nielsen, Deputy Director
General of the Danish AgriFish Agency.
During the 4 day long visit also
participants from the Danish Veterinary
and Food Administration, the
International Department and the Danish
Embassy in Beijing participated as well as
representatives from The Danish Agriculture & Food Council, Danish Pig Research Centre, Arla, Mannerup
Møllegård, Egebjerg and Agrometer.
The visit started with a meeting where the two sides had the possibility to make presentations and discuss:
- Efficient and sustainable pig production in a Chinese-Danish perspective, including the main challenges
and opportunities in Chinese pig production,
- Biogas/biomass energy in Denmark and China
- Organic and Green Food production, including organic production, inspection and policy and Organic
research in an international perspective
- Agricultural production – quality and safety, including issues regarding Introduction to food safety,
inspection and risk
assessment in Denmark
The group had a visit to the Organic
dairy farm Mannerup Møllegård where
Director Kasper Thormod Nielsen,
Global Trade Policy & Regulatory
Affairs, Arla Foods gave and
introduction to the Arla Foods
cooperative dairy and organic
activities and farmer Peter Chr.
Sivertsen gave the group a guided
tour.
Food Team News – September 2013
4
The following day the group visited
Egebjerg International where Egebjerg
and Agrometer representatives made
presentations on the leading
technologies throughout the value chain
of modern pig production and the group
was guided around on the factory.
After Egebjerg the group visited a pig
farm where the pig farmer Michael
Bosebjerg Jensen showed the group the
farm and representatives from the
Danish Pig Research Center made a
presentation on Danish pig breeding and
management.
The day was ended with dinner in Tivoli hosted by Jan Lausten, Director, Trade & Market Relations of the
Danish Agriculture & Food Council.
On the final day of the visit the entire group had the possibility to discuss and summarise what they had seen and
experienced. It was clear that the issue of efficient and sustainable livestock production had interested the Chinese
guests a lot and both parties agreed to continue and enhance the cooperation within this area through meetings,
round tables, promoting training, and promoting further cooperation within pig breeding and technology and
looking into the possibilities of establishing model farms.
As for the Dairy industry there was a strong will to further this cooperation in the field of cattle breeding, quality
inspections, processing industry and the training of farmers, all topics which can be promoted through the newly
established China-Denmark Milk Technology and Cooperation Centre.
Finally regarding the
organic production and
trade both parties agreed to
support the cooperation
within the certification
system and try to simplify
the procedures for
certification of organic
products for the Chinese
market. There are also
possibilities in stimulating
the exchange of knowledge
and strengthening the
cooperation within organic
research; eg through the
involvement of ICROFS.
Food Team News – September 2013
5
From September 16th-18th the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, led by Executive Director General
Esben Egede Rasmussen and Deputy Director General Annelise Fenger, and the Danish AgriFish Agency visited
Beijing attended a string of meetings and events.
The meetings had been planned with
the purpose of promoting the
Danish interests and to continue to
seek solutions for a number of
Danish-Chinese issues particularly
within the areas of pork, dairy, pig
production and food additives.
On the first day the DVFA - joined
by Head of Division Anders Klöcker
from Danish AgriFish Agency - had
a meeting with the Chinese Ministry
of Agriculture, where the structure
and the topics for the further
collaboration was discussed on the
basis of the Memorandum of
Understanding signed last year by the ministers on strengthening the cooperation. In particular the further
cooperation with the China-Denmark Milk Technology and Cooperation Centre and the promotion of efficient
and sustainable pig production was discussed partly focusing on the possibility of establishing a Danish-Chinese
model farm for pig production as well as management training of Chinese pig production managers.
Tuesday the 17th of September the DVFA met with AQSIQ, Import-Export Food Safety Bureau, with whom the
DVFA signed an agreement last year on cooperation on director general level. During the meeting the progress of
the outstanding issues of pork, poultry and dairy were discussed.
In the evening of the 17th the DVFA participated in a dinner meeting with the CNCA. At this meeting there was
an opportunity to go in depth with the different issues. First of all on the issue of the further registration of the
pork establishments that were inspected in March this year where the Danish side is hoping for progress very
soon. Regarding the issue of the registration of the Danish dairy companies it was discussed when this would be
able to take place and the conditions for it. This also included a discussion on the much debated issue of infant
formula. Finally regarding organic certification a lively discussion evolved on a both technical and general level. It
was clear from the discussion that the talks within this field will continue in order to seek the promotion of
organic production and trade.
Food Team News – September 2013
6
Wednesday the 18th of September the DVFA
had a meeting with the National Health and
Family Planning Commission. The Director
General of the Bureau of Food Safety
Standards, Monitoring and Assessment,
several of his colleagues and the China Food
Safety Assessment Centre participated. After
a mutual presentation of the Chinese and
Danish systems there was an opportunity to
discuss future cooperation. In general, the
Chinese side would like to have more
cooperation and knowledge sharing.
Later on the 18 September the DVFA had a
meeting with Vice minister Teng from the China Food and Drug Administration, joined by several director
generals. After a mutual presentation of the Chinese and Danish food safety control systems the possibilities for
the future cooperation were discussed.
The overall impression of the meetings was that there is a great support of Danish food and Danish Food safety
systems from the Chinese side and the already existing cooperation will be developed even more in the future.
On 7 September the Danish Minister for Business and Growth launched the Royal Danish Embassy’s new CSR
network during an event at the Danish Embassy.
The Danish Minister for Business and Growth Mr Henrik Sass Larsen gave a keynote speech detailing the
importance for companies to perform well on CSR when doing business in China. Forty-two companies,
including Kjeldsens, Chr. Hansen, Scandinavian Farms, Arla, Aller Aqua, Carlsberg Danish Crown, Danyu,
Ellegaard, Novozymes, Sanovo, Scandinavian Farms and TripleNine participated. A member’s directory of the
new network was released during the launch event in which all member companies communicate their unique
footprint story in one publication. A digital version of the member’s directory is available online here:
http://kina.um.dk/en/the-trade-council/products-and-services/corporate-social-responsibility/my-danish-
footprint-in-china/
The new CSR network will run on a continued
basis and throughout the year member companies
will have access to practitioner’s workshops where
they can share knowledge and learn best practices
from CSR experts. To join the network please
contact the Embassy’s CSR advisor:
Pernille Paulsen, CSR Advisor
Tel: +86 139 1173 7736
Food Team News – September 2013
7
On 16 September 2013 the 4th China-Denmark Round Table of Pig Production was held at the Danish
Embassy in Beijing. The event was jointly organized by China Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) and the Danish
Embassy.
In June 2012 the Chinese Minister of Agriculture and Danish Minister for Food, Agriculture & Fisheries signed
the “Memorandum of Understanding on Deepening Cooperation in Agriculture” and in September the two
parties signed the “Framework Agreement on Further Strategic Cooperation in Pig Farming”. With reference to
these agreements the two ministers when meeting in Beijing in November 2012 agreed to proceed on organizing
the 4rd roundtable on pig production. Chinese Minister Han particularly emphasized the importance of the
participation of the enterprises in forthcoming roundtable.
Approximately 70 participants attended the round table meeting, where Deputy Head of Mission of the Danish
Embassy Lars Bo Larsen gave the welcome speech.
Wang Zongli, Deputy Director of Husbandry Bureau,
MoA and Esben E. Rasmussen gave the opening
speeches respectively. Chinese officials shared
knowledge in pig production status in China and the
DVFA and Danish AgriFish Agency presented an
overall introduction of animal health, disease control
and policies of pig production in Denmark. Leading
companies in pig industries gave presentations covering
various aspects of Danish pig production: the Danish
Pig Reserch Center presented the management of
Danish genetics, Dan Yu Trading gave an overview of
management and operation of Danish pig breeding farm
in China; Vitfoss focused on sustainable and safe feed
products; ACO Funki and SKIOLD (Qingdao)
presented feeding systems; while Vissing Agro presented
penning systems and equipment in pig farm. Greenmaq
presented its expertise on heating utilities in pig farm,
BG Millag presented advanced technical solution for
slurry storage and treatment., and finally presentations
were made by Danish Farm Design and Dalum
Landbrugsskole.
Through the presentations the roundtable catered for
knowledge-sharing of modern Danish pig production,
and functioned as a platform for building up a network
between China and Denmark in terms of the
development and cooperation on sustainable pig
production in China.
Food Team News – September 2013
8
17 September the China-Denmark Seminar on Food
Additives was held at the Danish Embassy. The event
was jointly organized by the Danish Embassy and the
China National Centre for Food Safety Risk
Assessment (CFSA) and Chr. Hansen.
Food safety is one of the greatest concerns in China.
The central government has carried out a series of
policies to strengthen food safety in legislation,
implementation, surveillance and inspection. This year’s
reform of the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) and the China Food & Drug
Administration (CFDA) is considered as a prominent milestone of the improvement of the food safety standards,
supervision and inspection system. It also clearly indicates the Chinese central government’s determination to
build up the consumers’ trust in food safety.
Food additives experts, Birgit Bønsager (PhD) from
DVFA, and Alicia Mortensen from the Technical
University of Denmark (DTU), the China Food Safety
Assessment Center and Chr. Hansen shared their
knowledge in area of food additives, where various
subjects were discussed. Presentations were made on EU
and Chinese legislation, principles of risk assessment of
food additives and control of food additives were
discussed as well as the question of natural colours. Chr.
Hansen presented how colour additives for food
production are produced how quality, safety and control is ensured. Finally an overview of the national food
safety standards in China, the food additives
management in China and the status and
development of China food additives industry
was given by the China Food Additives
Association.
Food Team News – September 2013
9
China is increasing their focus on the safety of dairy products, especially on how to secure and inspect the products. Therefore, a
Denmark China Dairy HACCP workshop was opened by the former Agriculture minister last year during a visit and followed by
the CNCA inspection visit to Denmark in March this year.
With the support from the Danish Veterinary and Food
Administration (DVFA), Danish Dairy Board and Arla,
the Chinese CNCA and Danish Embassy successfully
organized the dairy HACCP training that had the
attendance of CNCA (Certification and Accreditation
Administration of China) inspectors as well as some
representatives from the dairy industry.
7 experts from Denmark came to China to train the
Chinese inspectors: Claus Heggum, Chief Consultant,
Danish Agriculture & Food Council, Christian Bruun
Kastrup, Chief Consultant Dairy, Danish Agriculture &
Food Council, Cristina Galliano, Veterinary officer,
Section for Feed and Food Safety, Danish Veterinary & Food Administration, Per Justesen, Specialist in Milk
Quality, Knowledge Centre of Agriculture, Danish Agriculture & Food Council, Niels Juul Mortensen, Head of
Technology, Arla Foods Consumer International Business Unit China, Jesper Bo Petersen, Quality Engineer, Arla
Foods, MemberService and Susanne Elbrønd Neve, QEHS Senior Manager, Arla Foods Consumer International
Business Unit China.
The training took place over a period of four days, from the
10th to the 13th of September in Beijing having more than 70
people participating. The training covered official control on
legislation, approval procedures, risk based inspection,
division of responsibilities, equivalence; dairy technology
briefing; food safety management on dairy plants; National
Guide for Dairy Processing (hazard analysis, HACCP
systems, prerequisite programs, traceability, verification
approaches etc.); On farm food safety management;
National Guide for Milk Production (Arlagaarden); Animal
health management, feed management, hygienic practices,
milking, traceability; Management of milk supply, milk
collection, sampling logistics, information flow, monitoring, follow up on results; HACCP training, philosophy,
hazard analysis, establishing HACCP plans, verification programmes, etc.
The participants were deeply involved in the training and actively involved in the Q & A sessions. The participants
were very interested in the Danish HACCP system and CCP points; and there were several questions addressed
about Danish regulations and standards of dairy products, especially on infant formula.
Food Team News – September 2013
10
The training acted as a constructive practice on governmental relationship building as well as being educational for
the Chinese officials. The CNCA officials highly appreciated the training by and they thanked both the industry
and the official support towards this training. The training in Beijing is considered to be Module One and the
subsequent Module Two training is intended to be held in Denmark.
On 18h September the Danish Embassy jointly organized a roundtable on Infant Formulae with AQSIQ with the
participation of the DVFA and Arla.
The purpose of this roundtable was to gain a deeper
understanding on the upcoming AQSIQ regulation
on infant formula and exchange experience on good
practices in Denmark and China.
The Chinese side was headed by Bi Kexin, Deputy
Director General, Import and Export Food Safety
Bureau, AQSIQ. With him Xu Liyan, Division
Director and Han Yi, Deputy Division Director,
both from the Import and Export Food Safety
Bureau, AQSIQ attended as well as 2 representatives
from the Beijing CIQ and 2 from the CAIQ.
The Danish side was headed by Executive Director General of the DVFA Esben Egede Rasmussen and Vice
Director General Annelise Fenger. From the China Denmark Milk Technology and Cooperation Center Niels Juul
Mortensen participated and QEHS Senior Manager Susanne Elbrønd Neve, and Arla China CEO Toke
Rasmussen participated.
The roundtable was opened with a welcome speech by the Executive Director General of the DVFA Esben
Egede Rasmussen and followed by a speech by Bi Kexin, Deputy Director General, Import and Export Food
Safety Bureau, AQSIQ. The DVFA gave a presentation on the legislation, control and supervision regarding
infant formula in Denmark and the AQSIQ made a presentation on the new Import and Export Dairy Inspection
and Quarantine Supervision and Management Measures. The new regulation will entail that overseas production
enterprises complete the register on time; products with insufficient duration of shelf life will not be accepted
during the inspection; domestic sub-packaging for large import packaging products is prohibited; Import products
must be minimum retail packaging for direct sales and Chinese labels must be printed directly on minimum retail
packaging prior to entry and shall not be added later on within China.
Arla presented its’ their good practice on milk quality control; zoning; pest control; environmental monitoring and
cleaning; traceability; HACCP flow chart and verification.
After the three presentations, experts had a good discussion on the Danish supervision system on infant formula.
The feedback from Chinese AQSIQ is quite positive and they said it was good to have this dialogue to learn.
AQSIQ showed their willingness to cooperate with Denmark and Arla on the safety of dairy products.
Food Team News – September 2013
11
Due to the high attention on the milk sector from the Chinese public and authorities, China has released a series
of regulations this year and there are two more on the way.
Administrative Measures on Insection, Quarantine and Supervision of Imports and Exports of Dairy
Products
This measure was released on 24th January 2013 by AQSIQ and came into force 1st May2013. It regulates the
registration system for overseas food producers that export dairy products to China. It also stipulates that the
Certificate of Analysis must be presented upon products’ arrival at port.
Announcement of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on the
Requirements for the Implementation of Administrative Measures on Insection, Quarantine and
Supervision of Imports and Exports of Dairy Products
This announcement was released on 15th April by AQSIQ, two weeks before the Measure came into force. This
announcement listed in detail on the items to test for in relation to the first time import and repeated import.
State Council Order No 57 on Further Strengthen the Works on Safety and Quality of Infant and Young
Children Formula
This order was released on 16th June this year and involved nine ministries: China Food and Drug Administration,
Ministry of Industry and Information, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Commerce,
Health and Family Planning Commission, General Administration of Customs, Industry and Commerce
Administration and AQSIQ.
The Order No. 57 sets a strict tone for the entire infant formula sector and identified a few areas as priorities to
ensure the product safety:
1. Manufacture conditions; 2. Product traceability; 3. Control on dairy farm and milk source; 4. Distribution of
products; 5. Registration of overseas manufacturers of infant formula; and 6. Imported products.
Examination Rules Governing the Licensing Criteria for Enterprise Producing Infant Formula Milk
Powder (draft)
This examination rules were released by CFDA (China Food and Drug Administration) on 6th August for hearing
and the hearing closed on 15th August. The to-be-tightened requirements in the Rules (draft) are as follows: a) to
apply the HACCP and GMP systems; b) the infant formula milk powder producers shall use milk source bases
built and controlled by the producers themselves; c)the infant formula milk powder producers shall have their
own research and development capabilities; d) to upgrade management requirements in all aspects, especially
those requirements related to the purchase of raw and auxiliary materials; e) to comprehensively upgrade
production conditions, e.g, ,requiring cleaner production environments and the use of purified water in the
production processes.
Food Team News – September 2013
12
Registration requirements on Productive Enterprise Health of Imported Powdered Formulae for Infants
and Young Children (draft)
This requirement is still in draft and will be released by CNCA on their requirements for registration.
Notice on Further strengthening infant formula quality and safety work,
The notice was released Friday 27 September by AQSIQ in order to follow up the work arrangement by the State
Council on further strengthening infant formula quality and safety work. The notice can be summarized as
follows:
1. The infant formula powder in this notice refers to baby infant formula, younger children milk powder
2. The overseas infant formula powder production plants which export to China should register, based on
“AQSIQ Decree No. 152, administrative measures on import and export dairy products inspection and
quarantine”, “AQSIQ Decree No. 145, Administrative Measures for Registration of Overseas Manufacturers
of Imported Food”, and “AQSIQ Notice No. 62 2013, Product Catalogue of Registration of Overseas
Manufacturers of Imported Food”. After 1st May 2014, the unregistered overseas infant formula powder plant
cannot be allowed to import.
3. The imported infant formula powder, if its inspection date to the expiry date is less than 3 months, then the
products cannot be imported.
4. Sub-packaging for imported bulk packaged products in China is prohibited; Imported products must be in its
minimum retail packages for sales
5. Since 1st April 2014, Chinese labels must be printed directly on minimum retail packaging prior to entry and
shall not be added later in China. If the product package has no Chinese label or the Chinese label does not
meet Chinese law regulation and national food safety standards, it will be treated as unqualified products, to
be returned or destroyed.
Food Team News – September 2013
13
The Danish Embassy was invited to attend the China International Meat Forum 2013 which is organized by
Circulation Industry Promotion Center of MOFCOM.
To promote international meat trade and to strengthen the communication between the foreign and domestic
meat industry, these years CFNA holds the China International meat Conference (CIMC) annually. The
conference focuses on the communication between foreign suppliers and importers, export companies and
foreign importers, importers and retailers, supermarket, domestic meat suppliers and domestic group purchaser.
Topics related to meat trade and processing, such as government policy, customer, sales channels, financial
support, meat import and export promotion, international trade environment, trade development trends and other
related issues are deliberated and discussed during the conference. All of the speeches include the latest
information.
This year, Several key Chinese officials attended the Forum and delivered speeches related meat regulations
including Mr. Li Chunguang, deputy director general of registration department in CNCA, Ms. Yu Wenjun,
director of division of Import and Export food safety bureau in AQSIQ as well as Mr. JiangWei, deputy director
general of department of foreign trade in MOFCOM.
CNCA official delivered a speech of Registration of China Meat Import and Export Enterprises. In the speech,
introduction of the registration department, relevant regulations, registration requirement, documents needed to
be submitted and registration procedures were introduced. There are three divisions in registration department
including first division of registration, second division of registration and food, agricultural product certification
and control division. First division of registration is in charge of overseas manufacturer’s registration. Regulations
in use are Regulation of import and export meat inspection, quarantine and control, regulation of administration of the registration of
foreign manufacturers of imported food, Implemented list of registration of foreign manufacturers of imported food. Application
documents can be downloaded from CNCA website and submitted through the competent authority or Embassy.
Registration procedure includes documents review, on-site inspection, inspection report, registration result and
follow up control.
Ms. Yu Wenjun from AQSIQ delivered a speech on China imported meat inspection, quarantine and control. In
the speech, general introduction of imported and exported meat status quo in China, relevant regulations,
imported and exported meat inspection, quarantine and control are presented. Imported meats in China are
mainly from USA, Brazil, Chile and EU. Regarding the meat import in China, pork and poultry meat accounts for
78% of all import meat from Jan. to July 2013. Beef and lamb import surged in these two years. Statistics shows
that imported pork accounts for 54% from Jan. to July 2013. Ms. Yu mentioned that more and more problems
happened at the imported port because increasing meat import volume and neglected control of exported
countries. The problems included health certificate issues, non-registered establishments and changes of labels
and destinations. She also stressed the combination of establishments in particular in order to guarantee the
traceability and safety. Regarding the imported meat control, three links were emphasised including inspection
and quarantine before entry, on-site inspection at port and follow up control after entry. Inspection and
quarantine before entry means the procedure of imported meat approval which includes official application, risk
assessment, inspection and quarantine requirement, establishments’ registration (CNCA), identification of
certificate, other relevant information and imported quarantine license. In the speech, the officials mentioned the
consumption of hot meat to cold fresh meat was becoming a trend in China as well as the cold chain logistics.
Food Team News – September 2013
14
Danish exports of food and agriculture to China and Hong Kong reached more than 9.8 billion DKK in H1
2013, which is a growth of 38,7 % compared to the same period last year. The total exports experienced a
growth of 15 % compared to H1 2012, and the agricultural and food exports accounted for 58 % of the total
exports from Denmark to China and Hong Kong.
Source: Danish Statistics
The biggest export within food and agriculture is again fur and skin, which takes up 79 % of the total food and
agriculture export. Meat products also continue to take up a high percentage of the food and agriculture exports
to China and Hong Kong with 10 %. Grains and feed is representing 3 % which is a slight increase from the same
period last year. The export of live animals has also increased compared to H1 2012 although it is still a very small
part of the total food and agriculture exports.
Export figures H1 2013
Export figures H1 2012
Live animals 20034 Live animals 0
Meat products 1002390 Meat products 911135
Dairy and eggs 84486 Dairy and eggs 99102
Aquatic products 320618 Aquatic products 193027
Grains and feed 262391 Grains and feed 84314
Fur and skin 7716520 Fur and skin 5563803
Misc. 308134 Misc. 150560
Agricultural machinery 36792 Agricultural machinery 27718
Total 9751365 Total 7029659
Live animals 0%
Meat products
10%
Dairy and eggs 1%
Aquatic products 3%
Grains and feed 3%
Fur and skin 79%
Misc. 3%
Agricultural machinery
1%
Food and agriculture exports H1 2013
Food Team News – September 2013
15
Throughout June, July and August the overall consumer price index has been increasing, and at a higher rate than in the previous
quarter. The food index has been through a period of high growth as well as drops but has shown a stable level of growth between
7% and 8 %. The consumer index has also been through some ups and downs, although less dramatic than the food index, but has
throughout the past months shown sign of stabilization as well. Chinese households allocate 30 % of their expenditures to food, and
thus approximately a third of the index is food.
The CPI for August 2013 has ended at a higher level than at the same time last year, which creates an advantage
for the supplier side of the economy. The CPI rose 2.6 % year on year in August 2013, down from 2.7 % in July.
The food prices went up 4.7 %, compared to only 3.4 % in August 2012.
Source: China National Bureau of Statistics
The three month average of beef and mutton increased
year on year with respectively 26.9 % and 14.1 %. On
average in the period March-May, pork faced a deflation
but has now on average in the period June-August
increased by 3.4 %. The prices of vegetables and fruit
are up by 8.9 % and 8.7 %, in the three month average.
Grain is continuingly increasing at a stable 5 % increase.
Food continues to be the biggest contributor to the
CPI’s growth, and the biggest contributor to the food
price index is pork and vegetables which are the
primary products in the Chinese diet.
The pork prices have been declining from the beginning
of this year until May, but have been rising since then.
Beef and mutton prices continue to rise, as they have all
year.
The price of fresh vegetables has been rising and falling dramatically throughout the last year, but have since June
been increasing, while the price of fresh fruit is declining.
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
CPI & food price index development, August 2012 - August 2013
Consumer prices (Y/Y) % Food prices (Y/Y) %
-5.0
0.0
5.0
10.0
15.0
20.0
25.0
30.0
3 months average food inflation June to August by category
Food Team News – September 2013
16
People’s Daily: Anti-dumping duties adjusted on Indonesian, Thai food additives, 2013-08-07
China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) will adjust anti-dumping duties on certain food additives imported from Indonesia and
Thailand starting Wednesday.
The tariff rate on certain nucleotides used as food additives imported from two Indonesian companies, PT. Cheil Jedang
Indonesia and PT. Kirin Miwon Foods, is reset at 93.6 percent, while that on imports from Ajinomoto Co., (Thailand) Ltd. is
put up to 9.9 percent. The change was made according to the ministry's anti-dumping review at the request of a Chinese
company that claimed the original anti-dumping tariffs were too low. China imposed five-year anti-dumping tariffs on food
additives imported from the two countries in September 2010. The tariff rates on products imported from the two
Indonesian companies were set at 6.3 percent and 6.9 percent respectively, while that on products imported from Ajinomoto
Co., (Thailand) Ltd. was set at 4.8 percent. In October, the ministry launched a review of anti-dumping tariffs on those
products in response to an application from the Chinese company Star Lake Bioscience Co., Inc. Zhaoqing Guangdong. The
additives are mainly used in monosodium glutamate, soy sauce and other condiments to enhance flavour.
Xinhua: China pumps 2.58 bln yuan into agricultural industrialization, 2013-07-04
The central government has set aside a 2.58 billion yuan (417.31 million U.S. dollars) subsidy to boost the amount of loans
for the agricultural industrialization, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday. The money is designed to cut lending interest
rates for agricultural industrialization projects so as to boost farm produce supply and farmers' income. Thirty provinces,
autonomous regions and provincial-level municipalities will benefit from the money, together with Dalian, Ningbo and
Qingdao cities. Also, 100 million yuan will be provided for food safety risk surveillance in 20 provinces, regions and
municipalities, including Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Chongqing and Sichuan, the ministry said.
Xinhua: Chinese vice premier meets IFAD chief - 2012-08-21
BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang met with Felix Kanayo Nwanze, president of the
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), in Beijing on Wednesday. Wang commended the mutually
beneficial cooperation between China and the IFAD over the past 30 years. He voiced hope that the two sides will promote
the comprehensive development of rural finance cooperation and the "Going Out" policy of encouraging investment in
foreign agricultural industries. Nwanze said the IFAD will beef up cooperation with China and encourage other developing
countries to share experiences with China on agricultural development as well as rural poverty reduction. IFAD, a specialized
agency of the United Nations, was established in 1977, with the aim of financing agricultural development projects primarily
for food production in developing countries. China became an IFAD member in 1980.
The Guardian: Brazil and China scramble for agricultural influence in Africa, 2013-08-27
Agriculture is central to Chinese and Brazilian development efforts – how trailblazing are their methods? China and Brazil
have identified agriculture as central to their development efforts in Africa, confident in the belief that they can make valuable
contributions based on their own agricultural success. China trumpets its ability to feed 20% of the world's population on
roughly 10% of the world's arable land, while Brazil can boast of agribusiness-led commercial production of soya bean and
ethanol as well as its promotion of smaller-scale farming. Last month, José Graziano da Silva, the director general of the UN's
Food and Agriculture Organisation, stressed the importance of south-south co-operation in advancing agricultural
development in developing countries. "It is time for Latin America to increase its contribution to African development,"
Graziano told African and Argentinian agriculture ministers in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Food Team News – September 2013
17
What has been the experience of Brazil and China in agriculture in Africa; do they offer a new paradigm of south-south
development co-operation? A collection of essays published last month by the Institute of Development Studies concludes
that there is no single Chinese, Brazilian or African position. "China and Brazil have very different interests and priorities, and
within these countries there are intense contests between different approaches, reflecting domestic political dynamics," says
the IDS bulletin China and Brazil in African Agriculture. "On the other hand, Africa's 55 countries are hugely diverse, and
any new development encounter arrives on the back of a very complex agrarian history and political economy." The case of
Brazil is particularly interesting, since it offers two distinct models. The first consists of large-scale farming for the production
of soya and ethanol, backed by the ministry of agriculture, livestock and food supply, which describes itself as the ministry for
agribusiness. The second emphasises integrated rural and social development in Brazil's poorest regions through programmes
designed to ensure the provision of technical support and credit for family farmers. Both approaches are evident in Africa.
The ministry of agrarian development (MDA), a supporter of the family farm sector, has drawn on Brazil's More Food
programme, focusing on improving farmers' access to equipment, machinery and agricultural technologies, including tractors,
through the provision of concessional credit. Ghana, Zimbabwe and Mozambique have been given credit and signed a
technical co-operation agreement. Shipping of machines and equipment will begin this year. The challenge, says the study, is
to avoid subsidised technologies that end up benefiting wealthier farmers. At the other end of the spectrum is the
involvement of agribusiness. In Ghana, for example, the Brazilian company Constran is building an ethanol plant, designated
for export to Sweden, partly to get round European tariffs on Brazilian ethanol imports. So the $306m (£196m) project
involves Brazilian technology and European investment in an African country. Competing visions such as these mirror
Brazil's complex agrarian economy, says the study, and the outcomes will depend on how African governments, farmers,
entrepreneurs and civil society organisations absorb, shape and apply the models on offer.
While Brazil is a new player in Africa, China has been involved in African agriculture for more than 40 years. Lila Buckley,
senior researcher on China at the International Institute for Environment and Development in London, writes that Chinese
agriculture co-operation tends to be heavily technocratic, reflecting China's own experience. It has established more than 40
agricultural demonstration centres on the continent and provides agricultural assistance combined with infrastructure
development. The latter includes dam construction with technical training, the provision of inputs and storage facilities, and
facilitating links between agricultural ministries and communities. While the Chinese official line is that China's agricultural
experience can be of benefit to Africa, Chinese NGOs have offered more critical perspectives. A project officer at a Chinese
NGO told Buckley: "Aid is supposed to help local people develop by introducing China's experience. But people forget to
ask whether this is appropriate or not. Chinese people don't understand African history or the development situation." There
is also concern about the suitability of China's intensive agriculture model, which has achieved increased food production but
only at the cost of the heavy depletion of water and soil, intense fertiliser use – which causes high pollution – and heavy
energy consumption. The emphasis on technology transfer above other factors also worries some experts. "The Gates
foundation is spending $1bn on agriculture technology," an agriculture policy adviser at the Chinese Academy of Science told
Buckley. "But not all technology is necessarily useful for Africa. In China, rural development started with land tenure reform,
not with technology." Buckley notes that, despite rhetoric of mutual benefit, China has generally taken the lead in designing
and implementing agriculture projects, with only passive participation from African partners. This has led to frustration on
both sides and project failures, as in the case of the Xai-Xai irrigation scheme in Gaza province in Mozambique. When the
scheme failed, one Chinese participant complained: "We are here to help farmers, but the farmers are not interested in
agriculture." Kojo Sebastian Amanor concludes that south-south co-operation – though frequently framed as path-breaking –
builds upon pre-existing forms of international development, neoliberal frameworks, and the expansion of capital in Africa.
South China Morning Post: Memories still too raw for Chinese parents to trust baby formula, 2013-07-02
Ten years have passed since Fuyang farmer Zhang Linwei's four-month-old daughter died from drinking cheap infant
formula. The powder he bought for just nine yuan (HK$11.30) a 400-gram bag at a city supermarket in Anhui left the baby
puffy, with a big head and small mouth. "When my baby was born, she cried loudly, but then her voice gradually became
quieter," Zhang, 40, said. "I took her to a hospital in our town and the doctors there said they couldn't treat my baby and
suggested I go to Fuyang Women and Children's Hospital. At the second hospital, doctors said they had received numerous
similar cases and told me to have the baby formula we fed her examined." Tests found that all the nutritional elements in the
Food Team News – September 2013
18
formula were far below the national standard, with the protein content just 0.16 per cent compared to the required level of 18
per cent. "I think my daughter was starving to death," Zhang said.
In what became known as the "big-headed-doll" incident, a dozen babies died in Anhui after drinking substandard formula
for months and hundreds more were malnourished, with cases also reported in other provinces. The scandal dealt a
devastating blow to public trust in the safety of mainland food - and especially its dairy products. hings only got worse in the
following years, with illicit practices and regulatory loopholes in the dairy industry culminating in the melamine-tainted milk
scandal of 2008. Six babies died and more than 300,000 others suffered kidney problems after drinking formula adulterated
with the industrial chemical melamine to boost protein readings for quality tests. The central authorities have since vowed to
ensure the safety of infant formula and the executives of big domestic dairy manufacturers have trumpeted the high quality of
their products. However, most parents still ignore local brands and scramble for foreign ones or purchase milk powder
overseas, prompting many foreign jurisdictions to limit the number of cans each customer can buy.
Premier Li Keqiang chaired a State Council meeting last month that discussed how to improve the quality of mainland-
produced formula. A statement after the meeting said some factors affecting the quality of domestic formula remained to be
dealt with and trust in domestic brands needed to be lifted. A Ministry of Industry and Information Technology circular
issued on June 4 said campaigns would be launched in the next couple of months to "improve the quality of baby formula
and raise public trust". Besides quality inspections, dairy companies will make public pledges about their products' safety and
ordinary people and the media will be invited to visit factories. But many people remain unconvinced. Cathy Huo, a finance
manager in Shanghai whose baby is due in January, said she had asked a classmate who lives in Canada and a relative in
Britain to buy formula and send it to her. "It's a lot of trouble, but it's worthwhile for my baby to drink safe milk," she said. "I
don't trust the mainland government and mainland enterprises. Even if the domestic formula carries the 'qualified' label I
would still put a question mark on its quality." I don't trust the mainland government and mainland enterprises. Even if the
domestic formula carries the 'qualified' label I would still put a question mark on its quality Cathy Huo, a finance manager in
Shanghai Professor Wang Xichang , dean of the College of Food Science and Technology of Shanghai Ocean University, said
public perceptions remained clouded by past dairy safety scandals. Last year infant formula made by a company based in
Hunan was found to be contaminated with a carcinogen, and in April a trading firm in Suzhou that dealt in foreign formula
was found to have mixed and sold expired milk powders. "People turn to foreign formulas because they don't have other
choices and they feel helpless," Wang said, adding that it would take a few more years for the public to regain confidence in
domestic brands.
Shanghai Dairy Association deputy secretary Cao Mingshi said another reason behind the demand for foreign formula -
although not the main one - was that the same brands were cheaper in Europe and North America than in China. "No
wonder the illegal business of trading baby formula from overseas to the mainland market has boomed remarkably," he said.
"I heard that a Guangdong-based trader earned 100 million yuan last year." Cao said the mainland dairy sector's sales had
grown steadily since hitting their nadir in the wake of the 2008 melamine scandal, when "many people dared not buy any
dairy products". "What we enterprises can do is to make all efforts to ensure the high quality of our products," he said. "As
time goes by, the public will trust us." Each of the four baby formula producers in Shanghai has been assigned several quality
assurance officials who will conduct spot checks every day. In future, Shanghai plans to regulate the baby formula sector in
the same way as the drugs sector. The State Council announced recently that it would screen out more unqualified makers of
baby formula this year, following the closure of nearly half the dairy produce factories across the mainland in the past five
years. "In the first decade of this century, the dairy industry experienced sizzling and chaotic development on the mainland
and regulation lagged seriously behind," Cao said. "At that time there could have been 15,000 big and small enterprises. The
'big-headed-doll' incident crystallised that mad development."
After his daughter's death, Zhang was offered 12,000 yuan in compensation by the owner of the supermarket. He has
received 10,000 yuan so far. He and his wife have had two more children - a daughter, eight, and son, seven - but they
avoided feeding them domestic formula. "We spent half of our wages buying the foreign formula," he said. "Some of my
neighbours' children who survived 10 years ago after also drinking lousy formula have suffered from abnormal mental
development. My sole wish for my two children is that they can grow up healthily."
Food Team News – September 2013
19
South China Morning Post: Baby formula suppliers probed by China watchdog for inflating prices, 2013-07-03
Five foreign infant milk formula companies are under investigation by China’s top economic planning agency for possible
antitrust violations, the Beijing Times reported on Tuesday quoting sources. The article said Nestle, Abbott Laboratories,
Mead Johnson Nutrition, Danone’s Dumex brand and Wyeth Nutrition are under investigation by China’s National
Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) for possible price-fixing behaviour and anti-competitive practices. A
Danone spokeswoman said the world’s largest yoghurt group was “fully cooperating with authorities”. Nestle said in an email
it was cooperating with the investigation. Mead Johnson China-based spokeswoman Ronny Li said the firm had provided
information to the NDRC. Wyeth Nutrition spokeswoman Winnie Wang confirmed the investigation was taking place and
said the company was cooperating. Abbott Laboratories and Dumex could not be reached for comment. Officials at the
NDRC were not available to comment. Danone shares were off 1.6 per cent in Paris while Nestle shares were down 0.3 per
cent in Zurich. Foreign infant formula is a highly coveted item in China after a 2008 tainted infant formula scandal that left at
least six children dead damaged public trust. Foreign brands now account for about half of total sales. The Beijing Times said
the investigations came to light after a Hong Kong-listed infant nutrition manufacturer Biostime International Holdings said
last Thursday that its Guangzhou unit was under investigation by the NDRC for an alleged violation of China anti-monopoly
law. “The main purpose of the investigation is in relation to an alleged violation of Article 14 of Anti-Monopoly Law of the
People’s Republic of China by Biostime Guangzhou in managing the market sales prices at which the distributors and retail
sales organisations sell our products,” the company said in a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange.
South China Morning Post: Trans-fat found in mainland China milk formula brands, 2013-07-08
Three popular mainland milk powder brands contain trans-fat that experts say could lead to heart disease and should be
avoided by infants, a laboratory test commissioned by the South China Morning Post has found. Yili's Gold infant formula.
The tests found that the three brands - Beingmate's Baby Club, Synutra's Super infant formula, and Yili's Gold infant formula
- each contain between 0.4 and 0.6 grams of trans-fat (trans-fatty acids) per 100 grams of milk powder. But no trans-fat is
indicated on the packaging. Mainland law does not require labels on baby formula to state the trans-fat content. The levels of
trans-fat in the formula fall within mainland and international safety standards. One of the brands - Synutra's Super infant
formula stage 1 - was also found to contain twice as much sodium as the packaging says it does, although the level was within
international safety standards. The tests found trans-fat in the Beingmate and Synutra formula at a level of 0.4 grams per 100
grams and in the Yili formula at a level of 0.6 grams. None of the brands is sold in Hong Kong. Two popular overseas
formula brands, made by Mead Johnson and Wyeth's, were also tested. Both products, sold in Hong Kong and the mainland,
were found to contain no trans-fat. The Codex Alimentarius Commission, the international food standards-setting authority,
caps the limit of trans-fat in infant formula at no more than 3 per cent of total fatty acids - a standard adopted by the
mainland. Hong Kong has not set limits for the trans-fat content of baby formula, but has said it is considering adopting the
same Codex limit.
The United States Food and Drug Administration says trans-fat should not exceed 0.5 grams per serving of food. The World
Health Organisation recommends that, for an adult, trans-fat should be limited to not more than one or two grams per day.
Although the trans-fat level found in the mainland formula brands was within international limits, local experts warned that
parents should make an informed choice and avoid feeding their infants the substance. "It is always safer to keep the
consumption level of trans-fat to a minimum, especially among infants," said William Chui Chun-ming, president of the
Society of Hospital Pharmacists. "Formula is their only source of nutrients, and drinking it all day means their intake could be
high." Chinese University paediatrics professor Ellis Hon Kam-lun explained that if trans-fat made up too much of an infant's
intake of fat, it may affect brain and eye development. Long-term over-consumption of trans-fat can lead to heart and
circulatory diseases. Chiu said trans-fat can occur naturally in food, or emerge when food is processed.
For the test, the Post bought five cans of infant formula on the mainland - the three mainland brands and two overseas
brands; and bought two cans of the two overseas brands in Hong Kong for comparison. They were taken to a certified
laboratory and tested for their levels of energy, the seven nutrients specified for labelling, and melamine. None of the samples
was found to contain melamine, an industrial chemical used to adulterate substandard milk on the mainland. Melamine-
adulterated formula killed at least six babies and made 300,000 ill in 2008. A spokeswoman for Beingmate said it had never
added anything to its milk formula in breach of mainland regulations. The two other companies did not reply to the Post's
questions.
Food Team News – September 2013
20
People’s Daily: Details of price cuts for infant milk, 2013-07-09
Three baby formula makers have released details of their price cuts after the Chinese government started an anti-trust and
price-fixing investigation. Dumex Baby Food, a unit of French food group Danone, said in an e-mail statement yesterday that
it will trim retail sale prices by 5-20 percent for its main products today. Dumex added that the price cut will cover the full
range of its products in China and it will maintain the lower prices over the next year. The price cut came after Wyeth
Nutrition's announcement last week to slash prices of its key products by an average of 11 percent, with the biggest price cut
of 20 percent. The anti-monopoly division at the National Development and Reform Commission last week "took notice" of
initiatives taken by foreign baby formula manufacturers to cut prices. Meanwhile, domestic milk powder maker Zhejiang
Beingmate Technology Industry and Trade Co said in a stock exchange filing yesterday that it will cut the wholesale price for
key products by 5-20 percent from tomorrow.
FrieslandCampina Trading (Shanghai) Co also said in a statement over the weekend that it would cut the price of its products
by 5 percent from yesterday.
China launched the investigation as part of efforts to revitalize and consolidate the milk formula industry after a series of
food safety scandals, especially the melamine-tainted milk outrage which broke out in 2008, hurt the industry's reputation and
dented consumer confidence. At an industry forum in late June, Gao Fu, an inspector at the consumer goods division of the
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said China aims to create 10 large companies in the industry within two
years, with each having an annual revenue of above 2 billion yuan (US$326 million). China Securities Co researcher Huang
Fusheng said in a report that even as domestic and overseas baby formula makers reduce prices, they will still benefit from
the booming milk powder market.
People’s Daily: Fresh milk not a staple for Guangzhou dairy brands, 2013-07-09
It is impossible for all of the dairy brands in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, to ensure that their products are made with
fresh milk because there is a limited supply of it, according to a local diary management official. Wang Dingmian, deputy
director of the Guangzhou Dairy Industry Management Office, said at a symposium in Guangzhou on Saturday that there are
20,000 cows in the city, with only half of them able to be milked. In order to meet demand, dairy companies have to
Food Team News – September 2013
21
transport milk from other cities to Guangzhou. "However, the amount of fresh milk produced locally and transported from
other cities covers only 50 to 60 percent of the market demand in Guangzhou," Wang said. "The rest has to be filled with
reconstituted milk that is a mixture of imported milk powder and water." As an executive council member of the Dairy
Association of China, Wang also shed light into the National Development and Reform Commission's ongoing investigation
into the pricing of foreign brands of baby formula sold in China.
"The prices of foreign brand baby formula sold in China double that sold overseas," Wang said, citing his survey last year on
baby formula in more than 20 countries. The average price of a pot of infant formula sold overseas is 120 yuan ($19.50),
while it costs more than 250 yuan in China for a pot of the same brand, Wang said. "The domestic infant formula market is
now dominated by foreign brands, with these brands taking about 60 percent of the market share," Wang said. He added that
besides infant formula, milk from foreign brands is also taking a bigger piece of the domestic market. According to Wang's
survey in January, there are 33 brands of milk from 28 countries in the market in Guangzhou. "Before the melamine-tainted
milk scandal in 2008, there were only one or two foreign milk brands in the country," Wang said.
Xinhua: China watchdog refutes infant formula trans-fat report, 2013-07-09
BEIJING, July 9 (Xinhua) -- The levels of trans-fat acids in Chinese mainland infant formula are within national and
international safety standards, and such content is also found in imported milk powder, the China Food and Drug
Administration (CFDA) said on Tuesday. The comments issued in a statement are a clear refutation of an earlier overseas
report that claimed three popular mainland infant milk brands contain "trans-fat that experts say could lead to heart disease
and should be avoided by infants," citing tests that found 0.4 to 0.6 grams of trans-fat per 100 grams of milk powder. The
CFDA said it has found trans-fat between 0.019 and 0.574 grams per 100 grams of milk powder in mainland baby formulas,
but these levels are within national and international standards that set the limit of the content ratio at no more than 3 percent
of total fatty acids, a fact that the report also acknowledged. Lacking solid support from experts to back its claim of the levels
being harmful, the report went on to say that two other popular overseas brands sold in Hong Kong and the mainland were
tested to contain no trans-fat. However, the CFDA said in Tuesday's statement it has found such content, ranging from 0.024
to 0.367 grams per 100 grams of milk powder, in 197 imported infant milk powders.
South China Morning Post: Fresh concern over Chinese dairy products, 2013-07-10
A recent comment by the deputy director of dairy management in Guangzhou, saying that half of the city's products are not
made from fresh milk, has sparked public concerns over their safety. Wang Dingmian, who is also an executive council
member of the Dairy Association of China, said at a symposium on Saturday that the problem was the result of a limited
supply of fresh milk. The amount produced from 20,000 cows in Guangzhou plus the milk transported into the city covers
just 50 to 60 per cent of local demand, he said. "The gap [between supply and demand] can be filled only with a kind of
reconstituted milk that is a mixture of imported milk powder and water," he was quoted as saying by the Guangzhou-based
New Express on Monday. "Therefore, the milk we drink is not 100 per cent fresh." After that report, the newspaper said
yesterday that it had received a flood of calls from residents asking which brands were made with reconstituted milk. Wang
told the newspaper that all three major brands in the city use reconstituted milk.
Some internet users lamented on their microblog accounts that nothing appeared to be safe to drink on the mainland.
Another commenter said the revelation explains why a slew of wealthy people in Shenzhen pay high prices for breast milk,
referring to a report last week.
Besides pasteurised milk, which must be fresh, Wang said many other products, such as yoghurt, could be made from
reconstituted milk. The gap can be filled only with a kind of reconstituted milk that is a mixture of imported milk powder and
water. Therefore, the milk we drink is not 100 per cent fresh The Guangzhou-based Fengxing and Yantang dairy producers
told the New Express that they used reconstituted milk in some of their products, which was stated on the labels. Another
brand, Xiangmanlou, told the paper that it used fresh milk in all of its products. The Shanghai Dairy Association's deputy
secretary, Cao Mingshi , told the South China Morning Post that it is common practice for dairy brands on the mainland to use
reconstituted milk in their products because fresh milk is in such short supply. "It is legal as long as they mark the contents
on the labels. Consumers can make own their decision," Cao said.
Food Team News – September 2013
22
Xinhua: China completes overhaul of dairy standards: official, 2013-07-10
BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua) -- China has completed an overhaul of standards for dairy products as part of efforts to address
food safety concerns, a health official said Wednesday. Chen Rui, an official from the National Health and Family Planning
Commission (NHFPC), said at a regular news conference that the government is also strengthening standards concerning
food contaminants, fungal toxins, food additives and food labels. The overhaul is part of a five-year plan to upgrade food
safety regulations. According to the plan, which was released in June 2012, the government will improve national food safety
standards by revamping outdated standards, reviewing and abolishing any contradicting or overlapping standards and working
out new regulations. Many regulations overlap or contradict each other because multiple government agencies were given the
responsibility of compiling their own standards years ago.
According to Chen, who is now deputy director of the department in charge of formulating, monitoring and assessing food
safety standards under the NHFPC, China has now promulgated 303 sets of national standards on food safety, food additives
and nutrient supplements. Consumers have accused food safety authorities of being too lax, which has led to multiple food
safety scandals. When asked to comment if the government will refer to food safety standards used in other nations when
formulating its own standards, an official said China will set standards based on its national conditions, but will refer to the
standards of developed countries. The NHFPC will have to consider both the health of consumers and the development of
the food industry, according to Wang Zhutian, an assistant to the director of the food safety standards department.
Xinhua: Trans-fat acids normal in infant formula: official, 2013-07-10
BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Hydrogenated vegetable oil and natural food used to produce milk powder are the main
sources of trans-fat acids detected in infant formula, a Chinese official said on Wednesday following a negative media report
on the subject. "It's normal for trans-fat acids to be found in infant formula," said Wang Zhutian, an official with the China
National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment, at a press briefing. The remarks are a clear refutation of an earlier media
report that claimed three popular mainland infant milk brands contain "trans-fat that experts say could lead to heart disease
and should be avoided by infants," citing tests that found 0.4 to 0.6 grams of trans-fat per 100 grams of milk powder.
However, the official said there has been no evidence to illustrate that trans-fat acids from the contents of natural food can
bring negative effect to human health. Under China's national standards on infant formula, the levels of total fat in every 100
grams of milk powder should be no more than three percent, and hydrogenated vegetable oils are prohibited in production. A
statement issued on Tuesday by the China Food and Drug Administration noted that the levels of trans-fat acids in Chinese
mainland infant formula are within national and international safety standards, adding that such content is also found in
imported milk powder.
New York Times: Chinese Search for Infant Formula Goes Global, 2013-07-25
HONG KONG — The group of 40 mainland Chinese tourists made all the requisite shopping purchases on a recent trip to
Europe: silk scarves, Swiss watches, Louis Vuitton handbags. Rushing shelves at a supermarket in Germany, Chinese
shoppers stuffed a half-dozen large cans into bags, one of the tourists said. “One woman told me, ‘If it was easier to carry, we
would buy more; it’s good and cheap here,’ ” recalled the tourist, Zhang Yuhua, 60, who bought two cans. Chinese are buying
up infant milk powder everywhere they can get it, outside of China. And that has led to shortages in at least a half-dozen
countries, from the Netherlands to New Zealand. The lack of supply is a reminder of how the consumption patterns of
Chinese — and their rising food and environmental safety concerns — can have far-reaching impacts on critical daily goods
around the world. Big retail chains like Boots and Sainsbury’s in Britain now limit individuals to two cans of infant formula
per purchase, and customs officials in Hong Kong are enforcing a two-can, or four-pound, restriction on travelers taking it
out of the territory — with violators facing fines of up to $6,500 and two years in prison. Officials in Hong Kong are treating
baby milk smugglers like criminals who traffic in more illicit kinds of powder. In April, the customs police held a news
conference to announce that a two-day “antismuggling operation” had resulted in the breaking up of three “syndicates,” the
arrest of 10 people and the seizure of nearly 220 pounds of formula worth $3,500. On the mainland, Chinese parents’
obsession with foreign milk powder, which stems from distrust of domestic brands, is stirring a nationalistic “buy China”
movement among some officials. This month, a government agency announced it had begun an investigation into price-fixing
in the baby milk powder industry; targets of the inquiry included some of the biggest foreign companies. Officials also
announced stricter inspection procedures throughout the industry, and editorials by state-run news organizations said they
hoped Chinese powder makers would improve their standards so as to “defeat” the foreign companies. Travelers who
Food Team News – September 2013
23
manage to arrive in China with large amounts of baby milk powder must elude Chinese customs officials, who are now
enforcing strict limits on formula imports.
“Milk powder safety is the issue of No. 1 concern among pregnant women and new-baby households,” said Allen Wang,
chief executive and co-founder of Babytree.com, the largest online forum for Chinese parents. “People are asking friends,
‘What do you recommend? How do you store up foreign brands? Can you help me if you travel overseas?’ ” Worries over
domestic infant formula surged in 2008, when six babies died and more than 300,000 children fell ill from drinking milk
products that had been tainted with melamine, a toxic chemical. In response, many Chinese turned to buying imported infant
milk powder. But in the years since, there have been occasional reports of distributors or retailers in China adulterating
foreign-made powder with Chinese formula, and so many Chinese consumers have begun getting their powder directly from
overseas. A survey by the Pew Research Center showed that 41 percent of Chinese said last year that food safety was a very
serious problem, compared with just 12 percent in 2008. “How can we still trust mainland-made food after reading all these
horrendous stories on food safety issues?” said Tina, 28, a Guangzhou resident and the mother of a baby girl. “We are the
parents of our children, and nobody can accuse us for just wanting the best for our babies. It’s not that we don’t love our
country — we just dare not take the risk.” Tina, who spoke on the condition that only her English name be used, says she
gets 80 percent of her formula through the mail from relatives in New Zealand. And family members go about once a month
to Hong Kong to buy diapers and other baby supplies. “Most of my friends get others to carry in baby formula from abroad,”
she said. In China, more mothers are breast-feeding because of the recent scandals, but formula remains popular for various
reasons, including aggressive marketing by formula makers. Mr. Wang said Babytree.com’s surveys show about two-thirds of
mainland households with babies use formula, and foreign brands command a 60 percent market share. Beijing News
reported in May that statistics showed the amount of foreign milk powder that China imports leapt to 310,000 tons in 2009,
more than twice the amount in 2008, when the scandal hit. In 2011, it was 528,000 tons.
Prices have risen with demand. Both Mr. Wang and the online edition of People’s Daily, the official Communist Party
newspaper, said the prices of foreign-brand formula sold in China had increased by at least 30 percent since 2008. Some 28-
ounce cans cost more than $60. For safety and price reasons, Chinese increasingly want to buy from someone in the source
country. One popular outlet is the Internet — entrepreneurs running online stores ask people they know overseas to mail
formula to China. Mainland parents also ask friends or relatives going abroad to mail or bring back formula. Such was the
case with Zhao Jun, 30, who in May asked a friend going on a work trip to Britain to buy cans of a British brand, Cow &
Gate, for her baby girl. “In my circles, every mom I know orders milk powder from overseas or buys it from Hong Kong,”
said Ms. Zhao, an editor at Tencent, a Chinese Web portal.
Since that first foray into foreign formula, Ms. Zhao has been ordering plenty more Cow & Gate. Online, she finds Chinese
students or homemakers abroad who charge for the service of buying formula and mailing it to China. “Usually I buy six cans
at a time,” she said. Ms. Zhao said the recent limits at British retail chains meant that she had to pay those entrepreneurs
more of a surcharge, and her friends returning from work trips bring back fewer cans.
Parents are asking why manufacturers cannot increase production to meet demand, and some say the makers might be
encouraging the foreign shopping limits to force Chinese to buy the same products at higher prices in China. The
International Formula Council, an association of manufacturers, declined an interview request. Mead Johnson Nutrition, an
American maker, said in a statement that although it had “strategically located” plants around the world, there were also
“uncharacteristic fluctuations in consumer demand — such as the situation in Hong Kong earlier this year.” Meanwhile,
Andrew Opie, food director of the British Retail Consortium, said the limits at retail stores were “being done at the request of
manufacturers.” The government-mandated limit in Hong Kong went into effect March 1. There are large Chinese- and
English-language signs on both sides of the busy Hong Kong-Shenzhen border crossing at Lo Wu that warn: “Departing
with excessive powdered formula commits an offense.” At Lung Fung Garden, a street mall that is one subway stop from Lo
Wu, employees and managers of pharmacies displaying towers of formula cans said that business had plummeted. “Before,
we would sell out of our stock,” said one man at the Lung Fung Pharmacy. “I feel the government should get rid of the two-
can limit.” Mainland buyers were still swarming the mall, and most appeared to be sticking to the two-can limit. One woman,
though, stuffed three cans of Friso Gold formula, at $25 each, into a black duffel bag.
Food Team News – September 2013
24
Xinhua: Importers recall tainted NZ milk powder, 13-08-04
BEIJING, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- China's importers on Sunday began to recall and seal products produced by New Zealand dairy
giant Fonterra due to safety concerns over its allegedly contaminated whey protein that could cause botulism. The recall
began after the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) announced a list of four
domestic companies that have imported whey products that may be contaminated with clostridium botulinum.
Fonterra said Friday that some of its whey protein produced in May 2012 was found to be contaminated with the toxic
bacteria. The four importers are China's biggest food and beverage firms Hangzhou Wahaha Health Food Co., Ltd.,
Hangzhou Wahaha Import & Export Co., Ltd., Shanghai Tangjiu (Group) Co., Ltd. and Shanghai-based Dumex Baby Food
Co., Ltd., according to AQSIQ. Baby formula maker Dumex said it is sealing imported Fonterra products and recalling two
of its branded formula products that were made with the whey protein.
Dumex has produced 726.552 tonnes of its own milk powder products with the potentially tainted materials and 420.188
tonnes have already been sold in China's domestic market, the watchdog authorities said. Among the seven batches weighing
208.55 tonnes of problematic products which Dumex purchased from Fonterra, 105.45 tonnes have been used for producing
baby formula products,said Shanghai's municipal quality inspection authorities late Sunday. Quality inspectors in Shanghai
have demanded Dumex recall the relevant products and track down its sales records. On Sunday afternoon, relevant products
of Dumex were removed from shelves in many supermarkets in Shanghai. Zhu Yi, associate professor in food science and
nutrition at China Agricultural University, said clostridium botulinum can grow in canned food which is inappropriately
processed, packaged or stored, thus posing a big threat to babies aged below one year. Clostridium botulinum bacteria
produce toxins and can cause botulism, a rare but potentially life-threatening illness. Symptoms of botulism include nausea,
vomiting, drooping eyelids, difficult swallowing and paralysis.
The Wahaha Group, which owns two of the companies in question, has initiated recalls for affected products despite finding
no signs of contamination in them, said the group's chairman Zong Qinghou. The company imported from Fonterra about
14.5 tonnes of whey protein produced in May 2012 to process its dairy products, including its popular Nutri-Express drink,
according to Zong. The products hit shelves in October 2012 and the company is working to recall any unsold items.
Shanghai Tangjiu, a Chinese agent for Fonterra products, said in a statement that it had imported 4.8 tonnes of affected whey
protein before selling them to the Shanghai branch of Coca-Cola.
Coca-Cola confirmed the news in a statement, which said 4.77 tonnes of the ingredient had been sealed. The remaining whey
protein was used to produce milk beverages that are now being recalled. The latest scare dealt a fresh blow to sensitive
Chinese consumers as an increasing number of them have come to worship foreign brands after trust in domestic producers
has been hammered by a 2008 milk scandal, in which six infants died for consuming baby milk tainted by melamine. In the
first half of this year, China's milk powder imports from New Zealand jumped 34.3 percent year on year to reach 371,000
tonnes, accounting for 83.3 percent of its total imports, Chinese customs data showed. AQSIQ on Sunday also issued a
consumer warning for three batches of Karicare-brand dairy products produced by New Zealand company Nutricia Nutricia
has initiated preemptive recalls over concerns that some materials supplied by Fonterra for the production of Karicare-brand
products may be contaminated. The affected Karicare products are not officially imported to China, but may have entered the
country through other channels, AQSIQ said.
People’s daily: Fonterra apologizes for milk powder scare, 2013-08-05
Fonterra, the world's largest dairy exporter, apologized on Monday for its tainted milk powder scare and said the
contaminated whey protein responsible for the botulism concerns will be under control within 48 hours. Over the weekend,
the New Zealand-based company said it had discovered a strain of bacteria —Clostridium botulinum — in its whey protein
that can cause botulism. The company said tainted whey protein had been exported to China, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand
and Saudi Arabia. The raw material is used to produce baby formula and sports drinks.C. botulinum is one of the world's
strongest toxins and can destroy the human nervous system if ingested. In infants under one year old, it can trigger neural
paralysis. Theo Spierings, CEO of Fonterra, which accounts for about one-third of the global trade in dairy, said in a Monday
media briefing in Beijing that about 90 percent of its products that contain contaminated whey protein have been located.
Food Team News – September 2013
25
Another 10 percent of the whey protein exports will be recalled in the next 24-48 hours. Spierings said a total of 38 metric
tons of tainted whey protein was contaminated. About 20 tons were sold to three beverage companies, including Coca-Cola
and China's Wahaha, and three animal feed companies.
After news of the tainted milk powder broke, Spierings flew directly from New Zealand to China, one of Fonterra's top
markets that have had its fair share of milk powder scares over the years. "We've confirmed with the beverage clients that the
bacteria cannot survive the heated treatment in their production process. Those company's products are clear," said Spierings,
who added that the other 18 metric tons of tainted whey protein are used to produce infant nutritional products. He said that
Fonterra doesn't know how much of the infant nutritional products are at risk. According to Fonterra, two companies used
the contaminated whey protein to produce infant formula. One company asked to remain unnamed and the other is Danone,
which owns Dumex, a baby formula brand. "We've been working closely with the companies to identify where the products
are and what actions need to be taken. All products have been located and we are working with local authorities, more
detailed information will come out very soon," Spierings said.
SCMP: China threatens heavier fines after baby formula probe, 2013-08-09
Foreign suppliers of baby formula who ignore monopoly law to face penalties, regulator says. Foreign suppliers of infant milk
formula who knowingly breach the anti-monopoly law can expect tough penalties, China's pricing regulator said a day after
six producers were given record fines for manipulating prices. Xu Kunlin, head of the Price Supervision and Anti-Monopoly
Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission, said the companies faced more serious fines if they gave the
impression of complying with the law's provisions while in fact opposing them, People's Daily reported.
On Wednesday, the NDRC announced fines totalling 668 million yuan (HK$840 million) had been issued to the six dairy
companies - Hong Kong-listed Biostime, Mead Johnson and Abbott of the US, FrieslandCampina of the Netherlands,
France's Dumex and New Zealand's Fonterra. They were the biggest fines levied for violations of the anti-monopoly law. Xu
said the companies knowingly broke the law and deliberately covered up evidence during the antitrust probe. "If we find
other companies that knowingly violate the [anti-monopoly] law, we will impose heavier fines," the paper cited Xu as saying.
In addition to setting minimum prices at which distributors could resell products, the producers controlled prices by
threatening to cut supply to wholesalers. As a result, distribution costs for baby formula in China were three to five times
higher than in other countries. Xu's bureau, which started the probe in May after receiving a tip-off in March, sent more than
300 investigators in 26 teams to check on companies, but they allegedly met resistance when some companies deliberately hid
information and provided fake documents. The authorities said one company was found to have deleted parts of contracts
with distributors to cover up the illegal actions, and some deleted e-mails were found advising employees not to negotiate
prices in writing, out of fear that it would leave a paper trail of evidence of price manipulation. Song Liang , a dairy industry
analyst with a distribution-research institute at the Ministry of Commerce, said that even if foreign brands become cheaper,
they would still fetch higher prices than domestic brands. Foreign brands tend to be popular in first- and second-tier cities
and in coastal areas, whereas domestic brands meet demand in third-tier cities and rural areas. "The market dominance by
foreign brands in the baby formula market will not change," Song said, noting that those who could afford the higher prices
would pay them, while other parents would buy domestic brands.
China Daily: More New Zealand dairy products banned, 2013-08-20
The quarantine authorities have announced the suspension of imports of lactoferrin from Westland Milk Products, a dairy
producer based in New Zealand, after discovering excessive amounts of nitrate in the lactoferrin supplied by the company.
The incident follows close on the heels of a scandal involving Fonterra, the largest dairy company in New Zealand, which
admitted on Aug 5 that 38 metric tons of its whey protein was contaminated with a bacterium that can cause botulism. In a
statement published on Monday, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said the
Wondersun Dairy Co, which is based in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, found an excessive amount of nitrate in
two batches of lactoferrin imported from Westland. Yu Ningjiang, deputy manager of Wondersun, confirmed the news to
china.com.cn, saying that the company has returned 390 kilograms of lactoferrin it had imported from Westland. Rod Quin,
chief executive of Westland, said in an announcement on Monday that the nitrate levels of the two batches totaling 390 kg
were 610 and 2,198 parts per million, while New Zealand's maximum limit for nitrates is 150 parts per million, but the
Food Team News – September 2013
26
problem was not identified before the product was exported to China. According to the Chinese standard for infant formula,
the amount of nitrate should be no more than 100 milligrams per kilogram of powdered milk. The two batches affected have
been prevented from entering the consumer market, according to the administration.
"The administration has asked that the products be sealed, and decided to temporarily stop importing lactoferrin from
Westland," said the administration. "It has also asked all the dairy companies based in New Zealand to provide the test results
for nitrate in their lactoferrin exported to China, and the company of Westland to provide such test results for its other
products exported to China." Westland said it has started retesting all its batches of lactoferrin, which it has held up in its
warehouse. So far, no batches have been found to exceed the safe level. "Westland is of the view that it is an isolated incident
in the lactoferrin plant only, where traces of cleaning products (which contains nitrates) were not adequately flushed from the
plant prior to a new run of product," said Quin. The Ministry for Primary Industries of New Zealand said on Monday that it
has revoked export certificates for four consignments of lactoferrin manufactured by the company, and has sent a team to the
Hokitika factory, where the contaminated lactoferrin comes from, to investigate the cause.
"MPI's technical experts have looked closely at this issue and believe any food safety risk to Chinese consumers is negligible
because the quantities of lactoferrin used in consumer products was very small, meaning the nitrate levels in those products
would easily be within acceptable levels." China's quarantine administration agreed. Lactoferrin can be used as an ingredient
in a number of dairy products including infant formula, and an excessive amount of nitrate in lactoferrin doesn't necessarily
lead to an excessive nitrate amount in the dairy product, said the administration. However, it said that infant formula makers
should test all their ingredients in case ingredients other than lactoferrin were contaminated with nitrate, driving up the level
of nitrate in infant formula.
SCMP: Chinese entrepreneurs milk Germany's supply, 2013-08-20
"A delicious, tasty and safe product for Chinese children, and their parents”, blasts a video ad for German pasteurised milk
aimed at the Chinese market. Germany, the world’s third-largest milk producer, is making its presence felt in China, a country
with insatiable demand for milk, but a local trade association says they are only seeing a small part of the benefits of Chinese
demand. “We don’t make the big bucks in milk exports to China, it must be the distributors or retailers in China.” said
Eckhard Heuser, managing director of the nation’s leading dairy producers’ lobbying group, the Milchindustrie-Verband. We
are selling our milk at around €0.60 per litre to China, on par with local prices, but our milk ends up being sold for a more
than two Euros per litre there “According to customs data, we are selling our milk at around €0.60 per litre to China, on par
with local prices, but our milk ends up being sold for a more than two Euros per litre there,” he said. A survey by market
researcher Gfk backs this statement up finding that a litre of pasteurised milk costs between €0.63 and €0.68, including tax, in
Germany. In Chinese supermarkets, German milk can sell for several times the price.
Despite the high margins, milk exports are booming. Last year, exports of drinkable milk reached 47,300 tonnes, 91 times
more than Germany sold to China five years ago, according to the trade association’s statistics. Exports are expected to at
least double again this year. During this year’s first five months, Germany exported 38,190 tonnes to China, an increase of
138 per cent compared to the same period a year earlier. China is already Germany’s largest costumer of milk products
outside Europe. “Chinese demand is driven by pasteurised milk and infant formula”, said Frank Feuerriegel, from the North
Rhine-Westphalia dairy farmer association. “Even though the numbers are small compared to our exports within Europe,
China’s demand has played a positive role in consuming our excessive production,” he said. Larger dairy producers benefited
most from the Chinese demand of pasteurised milk, he said, as they have stronger bargaining power with shipping
companies, which would otherwise have to send empty vessels back to China.
China’s insatiable demand for safe milk products had become a topic in Germany in January, when the leading tabloid Bild
reported that grocery stores in major hubs such as Berlin, Frankfurt and Cologne had run out of infant formula. “We neither
sell nor export to the Chinese,” Stefan Stohl, a spokesperson of Milupa, a German producer of infant formula told the tabloid
at the time. “On the contrary, we try to prevent it.” Chinese small-scale entrepreneurs export most of the German infant
formula that ends of up in China, said Feuerriegel. “Internet traders from China started bulk buying infant formula and
shipping it to China in 30kg packages,” said industry lobbyist Heuser. “How they get through Chinese customs ... I don’t
know.” But producers have since embraced indirect Chinese demand and produced more, said industry specialist Heuser.
Food Team News – September 2013
27
“There are no shortfalls anymore,” he said. Official milk powder exports from Germany to China grew 15.6 per cent to 40.5
tonnes in the first five months of this year compared to the same period a year earlier, according to data collected by the trade
association. Exports to Hong Kong reached 114.6 tonnes, up 356 per cent from a year earlier.
SCMP: Botulism scare over Fonterra milk products a false alarm, 2013-08-29
New tests of Fonterra milk products show no sign of botulism contamination. A botulism scare that sparked global recalls of
Fonterra milk products was a false alarm and there was never any danger to consumers, New Zealand officials said after new
tests. The crisis led to infant formula being taken off shelves from China to Saudi Arabia earlier this month and damaged
New Zealand's "clean, green" reputation in key Asian markets. However, New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries said
a barrage of tests ordered after it sounded the alarm confirmed a contaminant was not the potentially fatal clostridium
botulinum - a bacterium that produces several toxins - but a milder bug called clostridium sporogenes - a harmless soil-
dwelling bacteria.
"It is therefore not capable of producing botulism-causing toxins," the ministry said. "There are no known food-safety issues
associated with clostridium sporogenes, although at elevated levels certain strains may be associated with food spoilage." It
said the initial tests had pointed to botulism contamination but subsequent checks on a further 195 samples in laboratories in
New Zealand and the United States showed no sign of the bacteria. "We are very, very relieved that this is not a food-safety
issue and that none of the children in the world were affected by this event," said Fonterra chief executive Theo Spierings.
China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said the administration needed time to
study the findings before allowing recalled whey protein powder to be used in production again. Beijing did not say whether it
had carried out its own tests. But Dumex, a dairy product brand under Fonterra, said Shanghai's quality watchdog informed it
on Tuesday that tests by mainland authorities showed that none of the 14 batches of the recalled products were
contaminated. Song Liang , a dairy industry analyst at the Ministry of Commerce, said the new findings would ensure baby
formula from New Zealand gradually returned to the market.
Xinhua: Fonterra directors to make trust-building mission to China, 2013-08-30
WELLINGTON, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- The leaders of New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra on Friday announced they would
lead a board of directors visit to China next week to rebuild trust with Chinese " stakeholders" after the botulism scare of the
last month. Fonterra Chairman John Wilson and CEO Theo Spierings said the cooperative's board had already planned to
visit China in early September to meet with Fonterra staff and stakeholders, and view progress on Fonterra's farming hub in
Yutian, Hebei Province. "Now that it has been confirmed that there was no Clostridium botulinum in our whey protein
concentrate, we need to address any remaining concerns our stakeholders in China might have," Wilson said in a statement.
"The feedback we have been getting is that people believe we did the right thing in initiating the precautionary recall, but at
the same time we want to provide every assurance about our food safety and quality systems and processes," he said. "The
visit provides an important opportunity to help rebuild trust and respect for Fonterra and New Zealand dairy products and
confirm our commitment to supporting the Chinese dairy industry," said Wilson.
The Financial Times: Danone baby brand shocked at Chinese bribery claims, 2013-09-16
Dumex, the baby food brand owned by France’s Danone, said on Monday it was investigating allegations on Chinese state
television that the company bribed doctors and nurses to recommend its infant formula to the parents of newborns at some
hospitals. The report makes Danone the latest foreign company to be targeted in Beijing’s anti-bribery probes, which have
focused on pharmaceutical companies, including the UK’s GlaxoSmithKline. Danone was also one of six mostly foreign
infant formula manufacturers that faced Rmb669m ($109m) in fines from the Chinese government in August for engaging in
allegedly anti-competitive pricing practices. In a statement distributed by Danone on Monday, Dumex responded to a report
on CCTV, the official broadcaster, that quoted a former Dumex sales manager in the northern city of Tianjin claiming that
the company pays hundreds of thousands of renminbi each year to bribe doctors and nurses in Tianjin hospitals to feed
newborns Dumex brand infant formula. Each doctor or nurse gets from a few hundred renminbi to Rmb10,000 per month in
such incentives, the report alleged. “Dumex China pays great attention to and is extremely shocked by the CCTV report on
Dumex’s promotion of [infant milk formula] product in hospitals in Tianjin. We will immediately launch an investigation into
it,” the statement said.
Food Team News – September 2013
28
Milk powder is a sensitive topic in China, since a tainted milk scandal in 2008 caused the deaths of at least six infants and left
many thousands ill. Many Chinese parents spend a large proportion of their disposable income each month buying expensive
foreign infant formula because they do not trust the quality of domestic formula. Sales at Danone’s baby-nutrition division
have grown more than 50 per cent since 2007 and now account for more than 20 per cent of total revenues. Of that, the
Asia-Pacific region is the most important, accounting for about 40 per cent of its business. The company says that China is
the largest market within the Asia-Pacific region, and helped to produce sales growth of 13.5 per cent in Danone’s baby-
nutrition division between April and the end of June this year. Last week, two more pharmaceutical companies, one foreign
and one domestic, were also drawn into probes involving anti-competitive practices or corruption. On Friday, Bayer said it
was being investigated over a “potential case of unfair competition”, while a unit of Hong Kong-listed Sino
Biopharmaceutical said it had set up a team to investigate allegations in a report by state television that sales teams based in
the eastern province of Jiangsu treated doctors to free travel to Thailand and Taiwan in return for their attendance at an hour-
long information session about their drugs It was the first time that Chinese official media had named a local company in
connection with alleged pharmaceutical corruption. In July, Beijing said it was investigating GSK for allegedly making illegal
travel payments to doctors. Several other foreign drug companies have since also been accused of paying illegal incentives to
doctors to prescribe their drugs.
SCMP: French milk firm Dumex to investigate China corruption claim, 2013-09-17
CCTV allegations that staff at a French milk formula manufacturer bribed doctors and nurses in Tianjin to give its products
to newborns prompts investigation by company. French baby formula manufacturer Dumex promised on Monday to
investigate allegations its staff bribed hospital officials in China to provide its products to newborns. Dumex made payments
to doctors and nurses at a hospital in the northeast city of Tianjin, state-run broadcaster CCTV said, citing a former employee
of the company and invoices obtained by the broadcaster. The payments, of up to 10,000 yuan (HK $12,600) each, were
made so that staff would provide newborn babies with Dumex milk, CCTV said, claiming they would become dependent on
the company’s products. Dumex, a subsidiary of Paris-based conglomerate Danone, said in a statement it was “extremely
shocked” at the allegations and would investigate. “Dumex China pays great attention to the CCTV report on the promotion
of products in hospitals in Tianjin. We will launch an investigation into this matter immediately,” the statement said. The
CCTV allegations come after the authorities in the mainland launched sweeping probes into multinational companies in
recent months. Dumex was one of six milk formula manufacturers handed heavy fines by China’s authorities for price-fixing
in August, when it was ordered to pay 172 million yuan. British pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has been hit by a
corruption investigation which has seen 20 people arrested since the beginning of July. China has one of the world’s lowest
breastfeeding rates, which experts say is due to misconceptions about health and aggressive marketing that ‘brainwashes’
mothers. Increasingly competitive baby-formula producing companies have targeted markets in poorer countries in recent
years. Campaigners have dogged Nestle for decades, claiming the company markets its products to women who would be
better off breastfeeding. Both Unicef and the World Health Organisation recommend breastfeeding from birth to six months
of age, and continued breastfeeding plus nutritious complementary foods thereafter, up to two years or beyond.
Xinhua: China reiterates infant formula rules, 2013-09-17
BEIJING, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese health authority on Tuesday told hospitals to strictly abide by the law governing
breast milk substitutes, warning against promoting such products. The National Health and Family Planning Commission
made the remarks after local media reports alleged secret deals between hospitals in Tianjin City and infant formula brands
over newborns' feeding options. The commission stressed in a circular that medical institutions may not accept donations,
kickbacks or benefits in other forms from manufacturers or marketers of breast milk substitutes. Violators shall be
investigated and penalized strictly in accordance with the law. Those whose acts constitute commercial bribery shall be
subject to criminal charges, the commission said. Promotion and publicity of breast milk substitutes in any form is prohibited
at hospitals and clinics, the circular said, adding that hospitals or their staff must not promote or supply such products to
pregnant women or newborns' families. Instead, hospitals and their staff are urged to actively promote breast feeding and
facilitate newborns' access to colostrum, according the circular.
China Daily: Employee claims Danone gave bribes, 2013-09-24
Whistle-blower says corporation approved medical staff kickbacks A whistle-blower claims the French company Danone
bribed hospital staff in seven provinces and municipalities in an effort to promote its baby formulas for newborns and
Food Team News – September 2013
29
experts say such practices are part of the unspoken rules in the industry. Danone, which markets its infant formula under the
brand Dumex, gave kickbacks that amounted to nearly 500,000 yuan ($81,700) to medical staff in seven provinces and
municipalities in northern China in April alone, Beijing Times reported on Monday, citing a whistle-blower from the
company. Those statistics are for only one of the six sales regions on the Chinese mainland, the newspaper said. The
employee also said the budget for paying doctors and nurses was approved by corporate headquarters. The article came after
China Central Television reported on Sept 16 the company gave commissions to doctors and nurses at several hospitals in
Tianjin, who in return promoted their products or gave babies the product without notifying the parents. "Definitely Dumex
isn't the only company that does this practice. Some enterprises have a department to promote their products to hospitals,"
said Wang Dingmian, former vice-chairman of the Guangdong Dairy Industry Association.
"The dairy businesses have to carefully maintain relationships with hospital staff, which technically means giving them
sufficient benefits. They might be replaced by competitors in the next few months otherwise," he said. Wang said it is a form
of public relations for milk powder suppliers to approach medical staff in the fiercely competitive market, even paying for
their domestic and international holidays. A report by global marketing research company AC Nielsen showed Dumex had
11.7 percent of the market share of infant formula sold in China in 2012, second only to United States-based Mead Johnson,
which had a market share of 12.3 percent. Companies are not allowed to give samples or products of infant formula to
hospitals or offer them money or inducements to promote the products, according to the Administrative Measures for
Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes issued in 1995. After the CCTV report, Dumex China said in a statement that it is
extremely shocked and will immediately launch an investigation. The statement has not been updated, and phone calls to Lu
Minfang, general manager of Dumex China, went unanswered as of press time on Monday.
"The company claimed it didn't know until the exposure and tried to regard it as personal behavior," said a senior executive
of a foreign infant formula company, who declined to be named. "That is impossible. The topic (how to promote products in
hospitals) is included in the training of some companies." A nurse at a well-known hospital in Shanghai said mothers usually
bring baby formula products to the hospital in case they are unable to breastfeed right after giving birth.
China Daily talked to five parents of newborn babies in Shanghai and Wuhan, Hubei province, and four said hospital staff
never recommended or provided baby formula of any specific brand to them. One father in Shanghai said he was given a can
of Abbott Laboratories formula after his wife gave birth to a girl at Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital in August.
"The doctor told us to switch to other brands after at least one month, but we didn't feed the baby the product at all," said
the father, who requested to be unnamed. Zhou Xinxin, public relations supervisor at Breastfeeding and Nurturing, a Beijing-
based nongovernmental organization committed to promoting breastfeeding, said most hospitals now have tough
management to prevent commercial bribery. An online survey conducted by the organization in November, which received
more than 1,700 responses, showed only 38 percent of newborns drank breast milk for their first feed after birth, compared
to nearly 40 percent who had infant formula. Experts say the next step is to see whether the government will take stringent
measures, such as anti-monopoly rules, to curb such practices. Hong Kong's experience may be applicable on the mainland,
Wang said. "Hong Kong allows baby formula enterprises to enter hospitals, transparently, but the brands change every few
months to prevent a monopoly. Otherwise the medical staff will be disqualified," he said.
People’s Daily: Toward a cleaner, greener eating habit, 2013-07-05
I thought I was witnessing an important social phenomenon that would have a huge impact on the eating habits of Chinese in
the decades to come. "Clean Your Plate" screamed the message from the middle of a Ming-motif dinner plate in a half-page
advertisement in China Daily's July 1, 2013 edition. It was part of the "clean your plate movement", which in Chinese is called
guangpan xingdong. The ad is a clear indication that the Chinese government is pushing the envelope for its 1.3 billion people
to "uphold the virtue and foster new practices", one of which is to eat all the food on your plate. This also is an important
step toward stopping wastage of food. What I see in China today is a far cry from my first visit to the country - Wuhan in
Hubei province, to be precise - in 1977 as a young student. I used to use liang- piao (food coupon) to get a meal because food
was then rationed. The memory of one lunch will remain with me forever, because I was lucky enough to have rice with
vegetable soup, which comprised not only cabbage but also a few slices of pork rind. At that time, pork rind was treated as
Food Team News – September 2013
30
meat and added to vegetables or soup because meat was not widely available. So scare was food that whenever a person left
anything on his/her plate, someone from outside the dining area would rush in and clean the leftover or put it in a cotton bag
- nothing went to waste
A lot has changed in China since 1977. Along with China's economic development and modernization have come some
problems, of which wastage of food is one. But during this visit to China, I have noticed a drastic change in the eating habits
of Chinese people, especially the young generation. There has been a proliferation of Chinese fast food restaurants in China
over the past couple of decades. But the irony is that despite some of them being guilty of serving unhealthy and fattening
food, fast-food outlets help prevent wastage of food. When a diner is alone - which a large percentage of fast-food customers
are - he/she rarely orders excessive food. Perhaps money has something to do with. After watching young Chinese ordering
food, I realized that wastage of food in Chinese fast-food restaurants is minimal because each portion is measured and one
order is normally for one person. A lunch or dinner costs about 25 yuan ($4) and comprises one main dish - usually chicken,
pork or beef - and two side dishes of perhaps mixed vegetables and soup, and the staple of rice. This way the Chinese fast-
food restaurants have unintentionally prevented wastage of food.
The problem arises when Chinese people dine together. Austerity and cost are tossed out of the window when, sitting on
huge round tables, they begin ordering almost every dish on the menu without realizing that they cannot finish even half of
them. Some argue that a dining table that is not full is an insult to the guest. Besides, hosts don't want to risk losing face by
not having more than enough dishes on the table. But now that the new leadership has given a call to stop wasting food,
hopefully Chinese people will change their ways. After being elected the top leader of the Communist Party of China at the
end of last year, Xi Jinping urged Chinese officials to follow eight rules to practice austerity and give up their waste-generating
habits. The rules include not wasting food and living moderately. In fact, the entire Chinese population should follow these
rules. China's ability to feed its huge population is an extraordinary achievement. Now, China wants to go beyond that and
give its people a more sustainable and greener way of life. Chinese people, for centuries, have been in the habit of saying, chi
duo yi dian (eat a bit more), to guests at the dinner table. But there may come a time when shao chi ye ke yi (it is okay to eat
less) would be the acceptable entreaty.
Xinhua: Food waste regulation faces skeptical response, 2013-08-10
BEIJING, Aug. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- People are skeptical of rules to punish restaurants for wasting food as Zhuhai and Beijing
released regulations this week. The two cities followed Xining in Qinghai province and Linyi in Shandong province in their
move to fight extravagance. According to a regulation released on Wednesday by the authorities in Zhuhai, a city in
Guangdong province, a restaurant will be fined 2,000 yuan ($326) to 10,000 yuan if leftovers are found on tables. In Beijing,
the punishment is stricter. A regulation released by Xicheng district government on Monday said the operation of restaurants
will be suspended or they will be blacklisted by government departments if serious food waste is found through inspection or
consumer complaints. Restaurants are required to display posters to inform consumers not to waste food and guide them to
order dishes reasonably, according to the rule.
Authorities are still working to discuss details of the regulation, said Ma Chen, head of the publicity department of Xicheng
district government, on Thursday. He confirmed to China Daily that similar regulations on customers and public servants will
also be released soon, but he did not give a clear schedule. However, many restaurants in Xicheng interviewed by China Daily
claimed they have not been informed of the regulation. A manager surnamed Zhao, of Laojia Weidao restaurant in Xicheng,
said they have put up posters given them by the community committee to inform customers. "Most customers cooperated
well and they often order an appropriate amount of food and take away the leftovers," she said. Some customers believe it is
the diners' responsibility not to waste food, not the restaurants. "It is necessary to appeal to citizens not to waste food. But it
is not that practical to lay down a regulation. There is no reason to fine the restaurant. It is the consumer who is responsible
for the wasted food," said Tian Tian, 27, a saleswoman at a real estate company in Beijing.
Guo Dian, 34, a male employee at a State-owned company, said: "When I am eating in a restaurant, I seldom pay attention to
the posters. I do not finish the dishes only because I dislike the taste. Besides, there is no proper method to supervise the
implementation of such regulation." .Legal experts said the government should guide restaurants to educate customers rather
than create such regulations. Yue Shenshan, a lawyer with Beijing Yuecheng Law Firm, said restaurants could provide
Food Team News – September 2013
31
discounts to customers to gain their cooperation in the campaign to fight extravagance, which was also mentioned in
Xicheng's regulation.
Li Weimin, director of the Beijing Weibo Law Firm, said the regulation was unnecessary because current laws could resolve
the problem. The restaurant will be punished if it does not inform consumers enough about the price and amount of food,
causing food waste, according to current laws of consumer rights protection, said Li. It's better to have such punishments
implemented by an industry association or consumer's association, said Li, who is also the secretary-general of the consumer
rights protection committee of the Beijing Lawyers Association. A regulation allowing the government to fine restaurants is
unlikely to be implemented because there is no clear definition of food waste and there will be disputes if there is heavy
punishment from the government, he said. (Source: China Daily)
People’s Daily: China's largest meat company confident in Smithfield purchase, 2013-07-05
Shuanghui Group, China's largest pork producer and processor, has expressed confidence in acquiring Smithfield Foods,
despite a U.S. governor's move to veto bills favorable to the purchase. Liu Jintao, vice general manager of the group, was
optimistic about the outlook for the purchase initiated by Shuanghui International, the group's parent company. "We inked an
agreement with the world's largest pork producer, Smithfield, and we believe our partner will handle the case properly," he
said Thursday. More than a month after the two companies jointly announced the purchase, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon on
Tuesday vetoed two bills that would allow non-U.S. enterprises to achieve farmland ownership, which is currently banned
within the state. Although Liu did not directly comment on the impact of the veto, he used Sina Weibo, a Chinese Twitter-
like service, to stress, "Smithfield Foods and Shuanghui International have discussed this issue and consider it no obstacle in
finalizing the acquisition." On May 29, Shuanghui International agreed to buy Smithfield for 7.1 billion U.S. dollars, a move
expected to improve the Chinese meat giant's management and competitiveness. "The acquisition, which comes under the
backdrop of the United States facing overcapacity in meat production while China is haunted by the opposite, will be a win-
win deal," said Feng Yonghui, chief analyst with Beijing Yiheng Modern Farming Information and Technological Institute.
The Guardian: What does Shuanghui's takeover of Smithfield mean for food safety?, 2013-07-10
On 10 July, the US Senate Agriculture Committee will evaluate the purchase of Smithfield Foods by Hong Kong-based
Shuanghui International. The deal, announced in late May and worth $4.7bn, represents the biggest Chinese takeover of an
American company in history. It is striking not only for its size, but for what is says about meat as a high-ticket item on the
global economic menu. Unlike previous, much-ballyhooed Chinese takeovers – like Lenovo's 2005 purchase of IBM's
personal computing division or last year's acquisition of cinema chain AMC by the Dalian Wanda Group – this one is of a
small-town Virginia company best-known for its precooked hams. Rising Chinese demand for pork (the country is already the
world's top consumer) has led the recently privatized Shuanghui to seek out a best-in-business American firm to acquire. But
beyond the predictable protectionist cries of acquisitive barbarians at the gates and hand-wringing by some of Smithfield's
bigger shareholders, the deal has raised concern about how this takeover will affect food safety, both in the US and China.
The deal is now heading before the US Senate to determine whether it might pose a threat to the American food supply and
food production standards.
While analysts are already writing off the hearing as a rubber-stamping formality, all of a sudden stories about food safety are
proliferating, with both Shuanghui's and Smithfield's spotty records coming under closer public scrutiny. Much of the focus is
falling on the use of feed additives – meant to stimulate lean muscle growth in pigs – which have adverse effects on human
consumers. Shuanghui was embroiled in a scandal in 2011, when food inspectors found the illegal steroid clenbuterol in its
meat products. Smithfield, meanwhile, is slowly phasing out its use of ractopamine, a drug that remains legal in the US but
which has been banned by the EU and, recently, China. In simplest terms, part of the debate now being had, and which will
play out before the Senate agricultural committee, is whether or not Chinese ownership will be a bad influence on Smithfield's
practices. (Robert Herzstein, in a Washington Post op-ed, wrote that "Reports of egregious food adulteration in China
suggest a culture where companies have little concern for safety and health standards.") Or, conversely, whether international
standards and shared corporate knowhow may, in fact, raise standards in both countries, improving the lot of pigs and their
consumers. What this entire discussion misses is the bigger problem this takeover should have us talking about: namely, the
Food Team News – September 2013
32
real size of big agriculture and the sector's troubling and deepening financialization. Smithfield, by any standards a massive
corporation, de facto decides what meat many Americans eat. If Smithfield feeds its pigs ractopamine, Americans are eating
ractopamine in their breakfast bacon. Shuanghui, meanwhile, privatized with the capital and business acumen of investors
that include Goldman Sachs and assisted by Morgan Stanley in its bid for Smithfield, aims to be "the leading meat supplier in
the world". With such large amounts of money behind the deal, treating something like food safety as simply one aspect of
business practice misses the point that treating the food business like any other has inherent and wide-ranging health and
economic effects. The issue is fairly simple: the pork industry needs to produce, process, and turn over pigs at a phenomenal
rate to meet competitive pressures. And, as in any other industry, this entails striving to decrease production costs and
achieve economies of scale. Use of substances like ractopamine is a case in point. A hog jacked up on the additive is $5 less
expensive to produce than one raised without it, and reaches slaughter weight more quickly.
With a turnover of millions of hogs annually, those are the type of savings shareholders want to see. And predictably, a fast-
growing agricultural pharmaceuticals industry is emerging to meet these needs. Within this market-driven logic, taking what
are essentially calculated risks with consumer health makes business sense. Until, that is, a major client nation does something
like ban ractopamine. On such occasions, self-regulation and business interests align. But simply leaving food safety to the
market is a dangerous gambit. The problem isn't to be found in China or in the US, but in the nature of globalized Big Ag
itself. So, perhaps, rather than focusing on this one case, we should be taking a much longer and deeper look at the structure
and regulation of the entire agricultural industry. This should include, first and foremost, much more stringent oversight of
food quality and animal rearing practices. And as for the relationship between big finance and big agriculture, a good starting
point is the same question we have learned to ask of banks and other major market players: is bigger necessarily better?
Smithfield, at its size, is problematic. But a behemoth like post-merger Shuanghui might well be a public health disaster
waiting to happen.
Xinhua: China’s farm produce prices continue to rise, 2013-08-06
BEIJING, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- The prices of farm produce in 36 major Chinese cities continued to climb last week, according
to official data released Tuesday. A Ministry of Commerce statement said that the wholesale prices of 18 kinds of vegetables
went up 1.2 percent in the week ending Aug. 4 compared with the week earlier. The price of eggs rose 0.5 percent week on
week, the price of pork, the country's staple meat, gained 1.5 percent and the cost of peanut oil increased 0.1 percent, the
ministry said. Meanwhile,the average wholesale prices of eight aquatic products dropped 0.2 percent from a week earlier,
according to the ministry. The cost of food accounts for about one-third of the prices used to calculate China's consumer
price index, a main gauge of inflation. Latest official data has shown that the CPI grew 2.4 percent year on year in the first
half. Experts predict that the CPI may rise around 2.8 percent in July.
People’s Daily: Police raids uncover packs of chicken feet from 1967, 2013-07-08
Packs of chicken feet smuggled into the country to be processed and sold in south China were over 40 years old, police said
yesterday. Nanning police said they recently confiscated more than 20 tons of expired chicken feet along with cows'
stomachs, throats and other animal organs, also out of date, in the capital city of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous
Region. The oldest packs of frozen chicken feet were labelled as being produced in 1967, Xinhua news agency reported.
"These raw materials were smuggled from neighboring countries and smugglers would soak them in toxic chemical solutions
to remove the blood and smell and sell them on to markets," police said. According to Xinhua, there is a massive trade in
chicken feet and other animal parts from foreign countries, including the United States and the UK, to Chinese cities because
these animal parts are popular in China but regarded as waste in most foreign countries. Some trade is legitimate, Xinhua said,
but much of it is illegal, with smugglers hiding frozen animal parts among fruit or lumber destined for China. Over the past
year, frontier police in Guangxi said they had cracked seven major smuggling cases involving chicken feet with the total value
of over 20 million yuan (US$3.26 million). Police official Li Jianmin told Xinhua that most of the frozen chicken feet was of
poor quality but smugglers would soak them in hydrogen dioxide or bleaching powder to make the feet look whiter and
Food Team News – September 2013
33
bigger. Li said a kilogram of chicken feet would become 1.5 kilograms after being soaked in the solution. He said that the
workshops they raided were so dirty and foul-smelling that people could only stay inside them for a few minutes at a time.
Hydrogen dioxide is banned from use in food processing in China and Li said the sewage from the workshops had killed fish
in a nearby pond. He said there were huge profits to be made from the illegal trade. Smugglers could buy a ton of chicken
feet for about 5,000 yuan from foreign sellers, but sell them at four times that amount after defrosting, processing and
packing.
The processed chicken feet and other animal parts were normally sold to small restaurants and outdoor barbecue owners. Li
said it was a difficult task for the police to crack down on the trade because smugglers would collaborate with some courier
companies to transport the products hidden in other cargo.
When drivers were questioned they would tell police that they had no idea what cargo they were carrying, he said. "So it
would be difficult for police to find the smugglers without tip-offs," he added. Meanwhile, some 141 smuggled bear paws had
been found in the region over the past year, said Luo Weidong, director of the Guangxi forest police station. Although they
had started to smell during transport, the bear paws would be sold to restaurants where chefs would use additives to
transform them into expensive dishes, Luo said.
South China Morning Post: Police seize chicken feet in storage since 1967, smuggled from Vietnam, 2013-07-08
When police raided an illegal food storage site in Nanning, capital of the Guangxi autonomous region, they found decades-
old chicken feet waiting to be processed. Some even dated to 1967, during the tumultuous days of the Cultural Revolution.
The storage site, raided by police in May, was run by a gang that reportedly smuggled chicken feet, beef tripe and cartilage
from Vietnam across the porous border to Guangxi. Some 20 tonnes of meat were seized in the raid, according to Xinhua.
The bygone chicken feet, in particular, were brought into China frozen; they would then be processed with bleach and other
chemicals to add weight and improve its colouring. Through this process, the group managed to turn 1kg of old chicken feet
into 1.5kg of seemingly fresh chicken feet, making up to 16,000 yuan (HK$20,230) profit on each tonne. Local police quoted
by the paper said that most inferior-quality meat had been smuggled from Vietnam. Over the last 12 months, police at the
border hub Fangchenggang pursued seven similar cases of smuggled chicken feet, seizing 20 million yuan worth of tampered
product. "The entire processing facilty had a fishy and foul smell," Li Jianmin, from the local Public Security Bureau told the
news agency. "You just couldn't stand it after one or two minutes." Chicken feet are not the only items smuggled from the
southern neighbour. Illegal imports of bear paws are also booming, according to the report. Last year, 141 smuggled bear
paws were confiscated in one raid, Guangxi Forestry Police chief Luo Weidong told the news agency. The paws had already
started to rot and smell. Restaurants would cook the paws, which can cost thousands of yuan, in a way that would hide the
smell. In a similar case in May, two Russians were arrested in Inner Mongolia when they tried to smuggle 213 bear paws into
China, worth 2.8 million yuan. Newspaper reports on both sides of the Sino-Vietnamese border have been shaming their
respective governments into tackling illegal trade. During Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang's state visit to China last
month, a crackdown on cross-border crime was one of the few points he and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping could find
agreement as tensions rose over a territorial dispute in the South China Sea.
According to Vietnamese media, however, the ills of smuggling go the other way. Chicken, sturgeon, and fruit and vegetable
imports from China have been blamed for undercutting local prices. One of the more weird recent cases was that of Chinese-
made "witch pens" reportedly smuggled to Vietnam to defraud locals with fraudulent contracts
People’s Daily: Gov't pumps more funds into H7N9-hit poultry sector, 2013-07-11
The Chinese government has injected more funds into the poultry sector, which has been reeling from the effects of the
H7N9 avian influenza virus since March. The government has allocated another 300 million yuan (48.54 million U.S. dollars)
to boost the poultry sector, the Ministry of Finance said Thursday. The move came after the government had injected 600
million yuan into the sector in May and another 300 million yuan in June.
People’s Daily: Bird flu, slowdown hit sales at fast-food chains, 2013-08-14
The bird flu scare and the economic slowdown hit the sales of some Western fast-food chains in China last month. Yum!
Brands Inc's same-store sales in China declined an estimated 13 percent year-on-year in July, with a 16 percent decrease at
Food Team News – September 2013
34
KFC and only 3 percent growth at Pizza Hut, Yum! Brands said on Monday. Meanwhile, McDonald's Corp - Yum! Brands'
main rival - also saw a sales decrease in China. The company said on Aug 8 that comparable sales in Asia-Pacific, the Middle
East and Africa decreased 1.9 percent in July, "reflecting negative results in Japan, Australia and China". China's economic
growth slowdown may be an important reason behind the declines, some analysts said, although McDonald's attributed the
lower sales in those regions partly to the shift in timing of Ramadan. Muslims across the globe observe Ramadan as a month
of fasting. "Due to the economic slowdown, consumption is weak, while the costs of raw materials, human resources and
rents are all on the rise," said Li Weihua, deputy director of the franchise research center of the China University of Polit ical
Science and Law. Yum! Brands also had to deal with the effect from the negative publicity surrounding a bird flu scare.
"KFC's sales and profits in China were significantly impacted by the intense media (coverage) surrounding Avian flu, as well
as the residual effect of the December poultry supply incident," said David Novak, chairman and CEO of Yum! Brands.
At the end of 2012, food regulators in Shanghai said that third-party tests revealed that eight batches of chicken supplied to
KFC by Liuhe Group Co had excessive levels of antibiotics. The fast-food chain's business in China was greatly affected,
although it said that all the supplies from Liuhe were stopped in 2012. In the second quarter of 2013, Yum! Brands' same-
store sales in China decreased 20 percent and its operational net profit declined 63 percent in the country. To soothe
consumers, KFC announced new quality-assurance measures in February, including eliminating uncertified poultry producers,
as well as improving control of suppliers and communication with the public. Yum! Brands is optimistic about winning back
the consumers' trust.
"The China division same-store sales are expected to continue to recover over the course of the year and be positive in the
fourth quarter," the company said in a regulatory filing. The company's target is achievable, as the Avian flu scare is fading
away, Li said. He said that international fast-food chains have always seen some cases of bad publicity in China but that they
have always been able to manage them. And Western fast-food chains still have space to develop in the country, Li said.
"Western fast-food, no matter whether it is KFC or McDonald's, may be everywhere in big cities, but they are still very fresh
in smaller cities, which make up the majority of the country," he added. Yum! Brands has announced plans to continue its
expansion drive in China. The company will open 700 restaurants in China this year, said Sam Su, chairman and chief
executive officer of Yum! Brands China. The Chinese market, where Yum! Brands operates 5,726 stores, contributed more
than half of the company's total revenue last year.
China Daily: Scientists want stricter control of bird markets, 2013-08-26
Experts say different varieties of poultry should be kept separately. Rigorous management of live poultry markets is vital to
controlling the risk of infection from the bird flu, scientists said recently. "The H7N9 outbreak lineage has spread over a large
geographic region and is prevalent in chickens at live poultry markets, which are thought to be the immediate source of
human infections," according to an article published in the journal Nature on Aug 21. The H7N9 bird flu virus, first detected
in March, has infected more than 130 people in China and killed more than 40. "Different kinds of poultry should be raised
and sold separately in order to control the spread of H7N9," said Guan Yi, one of the authors of the article in Nature and a
flu expert at the University of Hong Kong.
Guan led the international team in testing samples collected from chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, partridges and quail in
Wenzhou, Zhejiang province; Rizhao, Shandong province; and Shenzhen, Guangdong province. "The live poultry market is a
place where different flu viruses accumulate and combine genetically. It's better for people not to come close to live poultry,"
he said. "Sanitation of the live poultry market requires regular and careful efforts, instead of simply killing all the live poultry
in the market when an epidemic breaks out." In their published study, Guan and his team also found another H7-type virus
lurking in chickens in China that can cause more severe pneumonia than H7N9. The new virus, dubbed H7N7, can infect
mammals, including people, according to the study. "The discovery shows that the H7 viruses detected by health authorities
may not be limited to the subtype of H7N9," said Guan. In early April, Shanghai had all live poultry in three markets killed
after health authorities detected H7N9 virus in samples.
In June, the city issued a regulation to manage the operation of live poultry markets. It ordered the markets to be moved from
the downtown area and to be cleaned up every day. The city's markets must also be suspended for one day every one or two
weeks for a complete sterilization. The findings once again support that live poultry markets need to be managed rigorously,
Food Team News – September 2013
35
if not closed down, said Shu Yuelong, coauthor of the paper and director of the Chinese National Influenza Center. "If it's
not possible to close (poultry markets) down entirely, such markets should dispose of live poultry left at the end of the day to
avoid the spread of the virus and strictly sterilize the area," Shu said. He pointed out that China's poultry industry needs to
increase its slaughterhouse capacity so consumers no longer need to come into close contact with live poultry. Shu said the
case of a 51-year-old female butcher diagnosed with H7N9 in Guangdong on Aug 10 (she is recovering) showed that the
virus is still present in live poultry. Cases of human infection may continue to occur, he said. He Jianfeng, a chief expert at
Guangdong's Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said many business owners mix their poultry with new batches that
arrive on following days, heightening the risk of infection. "Many poultry are also raised free-range, and sometimes different
kinds of poultry, such as chickens and ducks, are raised in close proximity in rural areas," he said.
South China Morning Post: China bans fishing in waters off North Korea’s eastern coast, 2013-07-09
China has banned its trawlers from fishing in waters off the eastern coast of North Korea, due to a dispute over fuel supplies,
the latest irritant in ties between the often uneasy allies. North Korea decided last month that Chinese ships operating legally
in its waters had to buy fuel from its suppliers rather than making their own arrangements as in the past, the Chinese
government said late on Monday. “Our fishing boat owners and companies believe this decision by North Korea will affect
normal fishing operations and safety, creating risks and dangers,” the government said on its main website (www.gov.cn),
citing the agriculture ministry. Waters to the east of North Korea are also especially risky due to the “complex, changeable
situation on the Korean peninsula” and their proximity to Russia, Japan and South Korea, the government added. “Many of
our fishing boats operate in North Korean [waters] and if they are not properly managed or well-organised then diplomatic
incidents can easily occur,” it said. The statement made no mention of Chinese boats that operate near the North’s western
coast. In May, North Korea seized a Chinese fishing boat in waters off its western coast, prompting anger in China. The boat
was released after a fortnight, following the intervention of China’s Foreign Ministry. Tension has been mounting between
North Korea and China even though China is the North’s most important economic and political backer. Some Chinese
banks have frozen out North Korea’s main foreign exchange bank amid frustration in Beijing over the North’s continued
pushing of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes in contravention of UN sanctions.
Guardian: China fishing ban east of North Korea builds tension between uneasy allies, 2013-07-09
China has banned its trawlers from fishing off the eastern coast of North Korea, due to a dispute over fuel supplies, the latest
irritant in ties between the often uneasy allies. North Korea decided last month that Chinese ships operating legally in its
waters had to buy fuel from its suppliers rather than making their own arrangements as in the past, the Chinese government
said late on Monday. "Our fishing boat owners and companies believe this decision by North Korea will affect normal fishing
operations and safety, creating risks and dangers," the government said on its main website, citing the agriculture ministry.
Waters to the east of North Korea are also especially risky due to the "complex, changeable situation on the Korean
peninsula" and their proximity to Russia, Japan and South Korea, the government said. "Many of our fishing boats operate in
North Korean [waters] and if they are not properly managed or well-organised then diplomatic incidents can easily occur," it
said. The statement made no mention of Chinese boats that operate near the North's western coast. In May, North Korea
seized a Chinese fishing boat off its western coast, prompting anger in China. The boat was released after a fortnight,
following the intervention of China's foreign ministry.
Tension has been mounting between the two countries even though China is the North's most important economic and
political backer. Some Chinese banks have frozen out North Korea's main foreign exchange bank amid frustration in Beijing
over the North's continued pushing of its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes in contravention of United
Nations sanctions. In a further sign of regional tension, Japan has criticised China for trying to resolve territorial conflicts
with shows of force that increase the risk of dangerous clashes, and said North Korea appeared to have entered a "new
phase" of producing better long-range missiles while improving its nuclear weapons programme. Tokyo is particularly
concerned by China's activities in waters around islands that both countries claim, according to the Ministry of Defence's
annual report, which is a yearly snapshot of what Japan perceives to be its major security issues. For months, ships from both
countries have regularly patrolled around the small island group called the Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. Though no
military clashes have occurred, the cat-and-mouse game has raised fears of escalation between the Asian powers.
Food Team News – September 2013
36
The report said Chinese aircraft and surveillance ships affiliated to China's maritime law enforcement agencies have
repeatedly intruded into Japanese territorial waters and airspace, and that a Chinese naval ship directed its fire-control radar at
a Japanese destroyer in January, a move that could be seen as preparation for an attack. "China has attempted to change the
status quo by force based on its own assertion which is incompatible with the existing order of international law," the report
said. "There is a concern over its future direction." The annual report was the first issued under Shinzo Abe's prime
ministership. He took office late last year and has been a strong advocate of bolstering Japan's military and taking a hawkish
position toward China.
On North Korea, the report said Pyongyang's third nuclear test in February and its launch of a long-range rocket in
December suggest it might be making considerable progress on both fronts. The report said North Korea appeared to be
pursuing research and development to deploy existing ballistic missiles, extending the range of its missiles and converting to
solid fuel propulsion, which makes missiles easier to move around and harder to detect and destroy.
"We assess that North Korea's ballistic missile development is considered to have entered a new phase," it said. "In
conjunction with its efforts to enhance its ballistic missile capability, the nuclear tests by North Korea pose a significant threat
to Japan's security, and they are significantly detrimental to peace and stability in north-east Asia and the international
community."
Xinhua: China bans fishing in waters off DPRK's east coast, 2013-07-09
BEIJING, July 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese fishermen have been told to stop fishing in the waters off the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s east coast because of a bilateral dispute over fuel supplies. Waters off DPRK's east coast are
risky due to the complicated and changeful situation in the Korea Peninsula and their proximity to Russia, Japan and the
Republic of Korea, China's Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) said in a statement. A large number of Chinese trawlers work in
the waters every year. Without stringent rules and arrangements disputes can happen, the statement said. Trawlers can fish in
the waters if they get approval from authorities in China and the DPRK. In late June, the DPRK said Chinese ships had to
buy fuel from its suppliers rather than making their own arrangements as in the past. "The DPRK's decision causes serious
harm and potential risks to normal operations and work safety of Chinese trawlers," the MOA statement said. The MOA and
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have asked local authorities to recall trawlers working in those waters and increase supervision
to prevent possible disputes. Individuals and organizations who go fishing in those waters without the approval of the
Chinese government will be punished according to the Criminal Law, according to the statement.
Global Times: China bans fishing around waters east of North Korea, 2013-07-09
The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture released a notice on its website on Monday stating that Chinese authorities have decided
to stop projects involving fishing in the waters east of North Korea in order to protect the property and safety of Chinese
citizens. The circular is the result of failed negotiations between the China Distant Water Fishery Association and the North
Korea Common Fishery Association. The North had been insisting on being the sole provider of fuel to vessels, and would
not permit Chinese vessels to supply their own fuel. Chinese authorities said they believed this would severely compromise
the normal operations and safety of Chinese vessels, so they released the notice forbidding related parties in Liaoning,
Shandong Province from fishing in waters east of North Korea. Sun Caihui, a fishing boat owner in Dalian whose vessel was
kidnapped by armed North Koreans last year, told the Global Times that he had received the notice from local fishery
authorities around June 28. Sun is still struggling to make up for the economic losses from last year's incident and said this
year's restrictions will make the situation even worse. "The current fishing zones are very dangerous with these armed North
Koreans. There are no waters left for me to fish in, and with the ban I can do nothing but to leave my fishing equipment
unused even though fishing season is coming in September," Sun said, adding that local authorities haven't offered any form
of compensation for boat owners. The notice also said that stricter controls will be implemented on offshore fishing in North
Korea. If any fishing vessels are found illegally operating in North Korea, individuals and companies will face criminal
charges such as smuggling and trespassing borders. Private fishing boat the Liaoning Generic Fishing No. 25222, which had
16 fishermen on board, from Dalian of Liaoning Province was seized by North Koreans who demanded a ransom of 600,000
yuan ($96,774) on May 5. The vessel was released on May 21 after negotiations from both sides and no ransom was paid.
Food Team News – September 2013
37
South China Morning Post: CNOOC refinery blames ocean currents for dead eels in Daya Bay, 2013-07-17
A subsidiary of China's largest offshore energy producer CNOOC has said it had not caused a massive fish die-off in Daya
Bay, some 40 kilometres east of Hong Kong. Seasonal oceanic currents were likely to blame, and not air and waste water
emissions from CNOOC's Huizhou refinery, said an unidentified representative of the Guangdong subsidiary in an interview
published by China News Service on Tuesday. Hundreds of dead eels have washed ashore on Daya beaches in the last week,
causing alarm among nearby residents about what was causing the die-off. The administration of the Huizhou industrial zone
said in a statement on Friday that the deaths had been caused by low water temperature, low oxygen and high salt levels.
Locals remain sceptical, however. "With this smell coming out of the plant, how can [refinery] emissions be below national
standards?" a resident posted on her microblog. Others expressed concern over emissions from the nearby Daya Bay nuclear
power plant.
The refinery started processing crude oil from the Bohai Sea in 2009. It is currently undergoing expansion to increase
production to 24 million barrels per day, from 12 million barrels. The statement comes amid increased sensitivity in China
over pollution caused by massive energy projects, two months after citizens voiced their opposition against a gas refinery in
Sichuan province and a planned gas refinery in Yunnan province. Last week, more than 2,000 people demonstrated against a
proposed uranium processing plant in nearby Jiangmen, which was later scrapped.
China Daily: German mitten crabs not ‘qualified for import’ , 2013-08-22
China's top inspection and quarantine authority warned on Thursday that mitten crabs from Germany are not qualified to be
imported without going through quarantine after thousands of such crabs were ordered from an online shopping site. The
authority has not received any application for risk assessment and quarantine from German authorities for the crabs, the
General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said on Thursday. The mitten crabs were put on
sale by a Suzhou-based e-commerce food company, Dadiyuansheng e-commerce co, on Sunday at its online store and
juhuasuan.com, a group buying site under Alibaba group, China's largest e-commerce company.
Labeled as "German wild crabs from the unpolluted Elbe" and priced from 199 yuan ($32.50) to 399 yuan a pack depending
on the weight and number of crabs contained, the products attracted tens of thousands of orders within less than a week and
about 300,000 German crabs had been ordered online as of Thursday. The quarantine authority said imported crabs that have
not been quarantined could carry risks of disease as the species has been in German waters for nearly 100 years and mutation
is possible. The authority has already conducted an emergency discussion with the group shopping site, asking them to come
up with a "proper" solution to the problem and an explanation to the public. Responding to the authorities, the group buying
site juhusuan.com said on its micro blog that mitten crabs would "definitely" go through customs clearance in both Germany
and China.
"The sales of Germany mitten crabs are through a customer to business model. And, quite different from traditional export
and import trade, the model gathers orders online and then stocks up for sales," the site said in a micro blog message. It
added that the mitten crabs could not yet be declared at customs because the seller is still stocking up on them. Jiao Jian,
CEO of Dadiyuansheng, said on his micro blog that he believed the sales of mitten crabs were disallowed because it would
affect "certain domestic crab industries". Jiao said the crabs would be imported live. A staff member of the Crab Association
of Yangcheng Lake, the place widely considered to produce the best crabs in the country, told China Daily he doesn't think
the German variety would "have any impact on the crabs that have been popular in the market and craved like hotcakes for
decades". In a previous interview with Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post, Jiao said his company has eyed the domestic
market since last autumn. He claimed the German crabs he sold are provided by local fishing companies "after tough
negotiation" because no companies in Germany export to China. The lure of mitten crabs from Germany has proved hard to
resist for some Chinese consumers. "I am just curious what the foreign cousins of Chinese crabs taste like," said Zhu Xinli, a
29-year-old housewife in Shanghai. She had just purchased a 399-yuan pack of the German crabs from the online store. "I
believe the German waters will be less polluted than ours," said Zhu, adding she wouldn't withdraw her order as long as the
German crabs can arrive in China.
Food Team News – September 2013
38
Xinhua: Foot-and-mouth disease infections confirmed in Tibet, 2013-07-10
BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) on Wednesday said infections of foot-and-mouth disease
have been confirmed in cattle in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region. On July 5, a village in Bomi County in
Nyingchi Prefecture reported that 72 head of cattle had shown symptoms, according to the MOA. The National Foot-and-
Mouth Disease Reference Laboratory on Wednesday confirmed that the animals were infected with type A foot-and-mouth
disease. To prevent the disease from spreading, local authorities have sealed off and sterilized an infected area where 489 head
of cattle have been culled and safely disposed of, according to the MOA. Foot-and-mouth disease is a contagious and
sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild species within the family
Bovidae.
Global Times: China tightens foodborne illness supervision, 2013-07-24
Efforts to reduce foodborne illness outbreaks will be improved by expanding the number of hospitals that monitor such
illnesses, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) said Wednesday. The number of such hospitals
will be increased from 950 to at least 1,600, the commission said in a statement. Sixty percent of counties in east China will
have such hospitals by the end of the year, while 50 percent of counties in central and west China will have at least one of the
hospitals, according to the statement. Data from the hospitals will be collected and analyzed by the National Center for Food
Safety Risk Assessment in order to detect potential hazards, the NHFPC said.
Xinhua: Strengthened food, drug testing urged to address outstanding issues, 2013-08-06
BEIJING, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- A leading official from China's food and drug watchdog has called for enhanced testing to
tackle outstanding issues in the country's food and drug sector. Sun Xianze, a member of the Communist Party of China
group of the China Food and Drug Administration, has urged food and drug regulators to avoid and resolve risks by relying
on science and technology and enhance their testing capabilities, according to a statement posted on the administration's
website on Tuesday. Overall, the country's food and drug sector features steady growth, but outstanding problems such as
unbalanced development in the food industry and high-tech counterfeiting in the pharmaceutical field remain, the statement
quoted Sun as saying at a recent symposium. To address these problems, a food and drug testing system incorporating
governmental testing agencies at the national and local levels, as well as third-party testing organizations, should be
established, Sun said.
Xinhua: Food safety concerns in updated "Whys" books for kids, 2013-08-09
BEIJING, Aug. 9 (Xinhua) -- What toxicity melamine and clenbuterol could cause will appear in the sixth edition of most
popular Chinese science book "One Hundred Thousand Whys", indicating the country's food safety concerns also spook
children. Melamine and clenbuterol are two chemicals illegally used by dairy producers and farmers, respectively, which have
infuriated ordinary Chinese who call for enhanced supervision and more severe punishment for those food safety violators.
Answers to such questions as: "Can we travel back to the Qing Dynasty?" "Why do we sometimes feel so blue?" and "Why
are we who we are and not someone else?" will also appear in the new book. The latest edition of the popular science book
series for children will be released on Aug. 13 at the Shanghai book fair, 14 years after the fifth edition. The book includes
4,500 questions, of which 80 percent are new, with the remaining 20 percent given updated explanations. Since the release of
the first edition in the 1960s, more than 100 million copies have been sold throughout China.
Hong Xingfan, deputy chief editor of Shanghai-based Juvenile and Children's Publishing House and publisher of the "Whys"
series, said the sixth edition has questions about paleontology, prevention of disasters, aviation, aerospace, weapons and
national defense. The publishing house collected more than 30,000 questions via schools and online platforms, reflecting
what children pay attention to today. Chinese children used to ask questions like "The chicken first or the egg first?" or "Did
humans evolve from monkeys?" Hong said now they ask questions like "Why do people feed animals clenbuterol?" or "Why
do I sometimes feel so blue?" Sun Yunxiao, deputy director of the China Youth and Children Research Center, wrote on
Food Team News – September 2013
39
weibo.com, the country's leading twitter-like social network, that the new edition is a "paradise" for children to ask
"why?""Society will be full of hope, only if each family and teacher provides opportunities for children to ask and think," he
wrote.
According to Hong, more than 100 science academicians took part in editing the new book, with answers provided by experts
and scientists from various fields. China's first ever astronaut Yang Liwei also contributed to the aerospace chapter by telling
his own stories about being in a spaceship. However, the sixth edition will not provide exclusive or definite answers to some
questions. "If every question has an answer, science is dead," said Sun Zhengfan, a member of the non-government science
group "Scientific Squirrel" and one of the editors of the new book. Although the previous "Whys" books were a huge
success, there are worries that the new edition will be less appealing. "Choices of science books for children and the
increasing use of online search engines, such as Baidu and Google, have posed great challenges to the classic science series,"
said Ji Shisan, CEO of science website Guokr.com.
People’s Daily: China announces rules for food safety, 2013-07-15
A fresh regulation on the safety assessment of foodstuff was released by the National Health and Family Planning
Commission on Monday. Foodstuff specified in the regulation include animals, plants and microorganisms that are not in the
country's traditional recipes, and includes components extracted from them. According to the regulation, if the safety of the
licensed foodstuff does not meet science and technology updates or if there is evidence showing the food not to be safe, the
commission must assess the safety of the substance for a second time. If the licensed food material fails to meet safety rules
in the re-examination, the commission will revoke the licenses for such foodstuff, it adds. The regulation also mandates that
those to be found providing false documents when applying for licenses of foodstuff will not be eligible to file an application
of the same food substance within a year. The regulation is set to come into effect on Oct. 1, replacing the previous one
which was released on Dec. 1, 2007.
South China Morning Post: Poisoning may point to rat meat in Beijing lamb skewers, 2013-07-23
An incident of poisoning in Beijing has been traced to yangrou chuanr, the ubiquitous lamb skewers sold on streets, in what
could be more proof that rat, dog and cat meat are being widely used among street hawkers. Beijing hospital No 307, which
is affiliated with the Academy of Military Medical Sciences of the People's Liberation Army, found traces of bromadiolone in
a blood sample of a 20-year-old tourist from northeastern China. Doctors believe the tourist ingested the widely used rat
poison during an evening of drinks and lamb skewers with his parents and girlfriend at a Beijing roadside food stand, the
Beijing Evening News reported on Monday. The patient's back and ankles were covered with bruises the size of a sheet of
paper, doctors said. The poisoning case comes two months after the nation's Ministry of Public Security released its findings
of counterfeit-meat sales throughout China. The inquiries showed that rat, fox and mink meat had been sold as lamb at
Shanghai hotpot restaurants and that duck meat was used for Inner Mongolian beef jerky. Last year, Dr Yu Ying - billed as
China’s real-life answer to Dr House from the US television medical drama House and nicknamed “emergency room
superwoman” - revealed a similar case of poisoning by rodenticides in meat skewers. Netizens have called for a boycott and
stricter inspections of street food hawkers, a measure likely to highlight the work of chengguan, or urban management
officers, who are tasked with cracking down on illegal hawkers but are often accused of corruption and arbitrary violence.
People’s Daily: Chinese state councilor urges NZ to improve food safety, 2013-08-22
Increases the bookmark digg Google Delicious buzz friendfeed Linkedin diigo stumbleupon Qzone QQ Microblog
BEIJING, Aug. 22 -- Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi on Thursday urged New Zealand to improve food safety after
toxic bacteria were found in imported dairy products from the island country's dairy giant Fonterra. "[We] hope the New
Zealand side will appropriately handle food safety issues, including the safety of dairy products, exported to China and
substantially ensure Chinese consumers' interests," Yang said as he met with New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray
McCully. McCully is paying a formal visit to China from Tuesday to Thursday at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister
Wang Yi. During the meeting with Yang, McCully said New Zealand will take strict measures to step up regulatory oversight
of the dairy industry and regain the confidence of Chinese consumers with concrete action. New Zealand attaches great
importance to the relationship with China, McCully said.
Fonterra has been the subject of two international food safety alerts revealed this month, with the worst case being whey
protein concentrate shipped to customers at home and abroad contaminated with bacteria that can cause botulism. On
Food Team News – September 2013
40
Wednesday, it was revealed that a shipment of Fonterra-made lactoferrin was stopped in China in May after Chinese
authorities found it contained excessive levels of nitrates. Lactoferrin made by rival New Zealand firm Westland Milk
Products was also the subject of a recall in China this month for the same reason. During Thursday's meeting, Yang hailed
the development of bilateral ties in recent years. China and New Zealand should view the bilateral relationship from a
strategic and long-term perspective, and tap the immense potential for cooperation in more areas to further advance their
relationship, said the Chinese state councilor. The two sides also exchanged views on regional and international issues of
mutual concern.
Global Times: Food tracking system to encompass school lunches, 2013-09-03
Shanghai's food safety watchdog is working with education authorities to include all primary and secondary schools in a food
tracking system by the end of this year, local media reported Tuesday. The Shanghai Food and Drug Administration
(SHFDA) aims to use the system to ensure the safety of school lunches, the Shanghai Morning Post reported. The system will
allow the SHFDA to trace the source of any unsafe or substandard food that finds its way into a school cafeteria. "We already
have some schools that track their food, and we will eventually expand the system to cover every school," said Shen Weitao, a
senior official from the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration. About 4,000 city schools have cafeterias that prepare their
own meals. Another 90 schools order their student meals from 22 catering companies. SHFDA officials will require school
lunch suppliers to keep records about their own suppliers, how much food they procure and when the food expires, the
report said. The information in the tracking system will only be available to food inspectors, Shen said. The SHFDA has no
plans to release the information to the public yet.
Along with the tracking system, the SHFDA also plans to require schools to put surveillance cameras in their cafeteria
kitchens so it can oversee food preparation. Schools in Minhang, Songjiang and Changning districts have already installed
cameras in their cafeterias. The SHFDA requires that each school install at least four cameras in each cafeteria kitchen.
"Inspectors can watch the cafeterias in real time from their office computers. So can the company owners and the schools. It
will discourage the people who prepare the food from disregarding the rules," Shen told the Global Times.
Global Times: Telling porkies, 2013-09-03
There were so many dead pigs; they were piled up in the yard, rotten, reeking and attracting flies. Counted by the ton, rather
than by number, men wearing aprons were skinning and cutting up the carcasses. The processed pork and bones were to be
sold to buyers who would make them into cooked meat or sausages, which would in turn make their way to supermarkets in
neighboring provinces. The operation was entirely illegal. Police in Xiaoxian county, Anhui Province, recently cracked down
on an illegal den that since June 2012 had been purchasing and reselling dead pigs that should have been disposed of by the
authorities, but instead were sold as meat. The business expanded rapidly from just purchasing and selling deceased pigs to
hiring employees then processing and shipping the illegal products, without any of the local supervision authorities being
aware of it. It wasn't the first time this had happened. Dead pigs have been sold illegally in many provinces across China in
recent times, and food safety supervision systems - grappling with problems relating to law enforcement and lengthy reforms
- have proven unable to solve the problem.Cases exposed nationwide. The boss who opened the den, in Qinglong township,
purchased dead pigs at low prices from neighboring households and pig farms and resold them at higher prices, the Xinhua
News Agency reported Thursday. His business boomed. Residents in the provinces of Anhui, Jiangsu, Henan and Shandong
all ended up eating the food from his "company." It wasn't an isolated case. The Shenzhen Public Security Bureau also
uncovered a case involving the sale of dead pigs in August, while 150 tons of problematic pork containing veterinary drugs at
up to 12 times the allowed level from a neighboring city, Maoming, had already been consumed by Shenzhen residents, the
Guangzhou-based Yangcheng Evening News reported Saturday.
It was a lucrative operation, as the price of these illegal dead pigs worked out to 6 yuan ($0.98) per kilogram, when properly
treated dead pigs are sold at 14 to 20 yuan per kilogram. After processing them, he sold them at 76 yuan for a package of 10
kilograms. These packages were then sold to supermarkets who sold them to consumers at a significant markup. Among the
frequently reported cases in different provinces where people illegally purchased or even picked up dead pigs from garbage
and sold them as food, perhaps one of the most shocking cases involved supervision authorities becoming culprits
themselves. The Ministry of Public Security announced in May that staff with the Jingcheng township supervision watchdog
in Nanjing county, Fujian Province, had sold more than 30 tons of unhealthy pork. Stretched resources. Animal husbandry
Food Team News – September 2013
41
authorities are in charge of ensuring the proper sanitary disposal of dead pigs and ensuring they don't go on to the market,
but staff in the animal husbandry station in Qinglong township merely waited for farmers to report dead pigs, then helped
with disposal. "So we didn't hear of the illegal dead pig selling business, nor did we spot it," Wu Yiqiang, a staff member from
the town's animal husbandry station, told Xinhua. Pig farms are often small, family businesses, and as such they are scattered
throughout the country. Many villages don't have enough staff to deal with the disposal of dead pigs, resulting in some
households volunteering to do it themselves.The two staff members with the Jingcheng township animal husbandry station
who committed these crimes said they had not been paid their annual 1,500 yuan subsidy, which made them commit these
acts. Even though the difficulties of supervising the proper disposal of the dead pigs were brought up, professionals in the
industry told Xinhua that it's impossible local authorities were not aware of the booming illegal trade.
Mao Haijun, the head of the animal husbandry station in Datun township, Xiaoxian county, told the Global Times that it's
easy to spot those who fail to have their dead pigs properly treated in his town, as the station sends five technicians to inspect
the 10 pig farms around the town, and the 10 other staff members supervise the other 300 households that raise pigs, in order
to keep track of the number of swine. "We've hardly found any farmers selling their dead pigs because if they have the pigs
properly disposed of, the Datun township government pays them 80 yuan for each small pig weighing 5 to 10 kilograms and
more for bigger pigs," Mao said. "But if they sell the dead pigs, the price won't be that high." However, in other parts of the
country there have been frequent cases of farmers dumping carcasses of dead pigs because they haven't received the
appropriate payments. For example, farmers in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province who dumped carcasses of dead pigs into rivers said
they hadn't received the allowance from the local government in March. Wang Shuping, who runs a pig raising cooperative in
Datun township, also in Xiaoxian county, told the Global Times that the supervision over large pig farms like his is very
strict, but expressed his concern that some small households may be able to avoid the proper disposal policies due to a lack of
supervision. Passing the pork. Many of these illegal business owners find ways to avoid the authorities. The Xiaoxian county
bureau of commerce in charge of the matter said that these dens operate very secretly and are hard to spot. A representative
from Xiaoxian county authorities said that the problem is that the functions of different departments overlap and the
situation would improve after recent efforts to restructure government departments finished later this year.
The industry and commerce authorities in charge of supervising the sales process claimed that the dead pigs were cooked as
food, and thus should be under the control of the health department; while the health department said the recent
restructuring meant it wasn't their responsibility. China's cabinet began reforms to government departments in March to
concentrate administrative power and improve efficiency. The ongoing restructuring at the local level was scheduled to be
finished in December. Gao Qinwei, an expert in food safety supervision and professor with the Central University of Finance
and Economics, told the Global Times that local departments are adapting to the restructuring at different paces, which has
led to a situation where some departments fear they may overstep their boundaries.
Global Times: China mulls transgenic food standard, 2013-09-04
China is mulling over a national standard on using transgenic technology in agriculture in an effort to safeguard food safety,
Vice Minister of Agriculture Niu Dun, told the Global Times Tuesday, without giving a specific timeline. The country is
working on a standard on transgenic food to rival the current US-led international code, Niu said on the sidelines of the
China-Eurasia Expo in Urumqi, the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. He noted that detailed research and analysis have
been conducted on the potential and the side effects of transgenic food. It is imperative for China to develop its own
standard, as the international community has been disputing it for years, Niu said. In a response to the hotly-debated issue of
transgenic food's safety, he said technologically speaking, there is little impact on human beings but its side effects remains
unknown.
Lin Min, a member of the National Transgenic Biosafety Committee under the ministry, on Tuesday said transgenic food is
as safe as non-genetically modified organisms, which triggered huge public debate. Many have questioned the safety of such
food and if the country has a rigorous evaluation system to supervise the products on the market. "By establishing the new
standard, it has to clarify that transgenic technology is forbidden from grain including wheat, corn and rice, and the
authorities should impose a harsh penalty should anyone disobey it," Guo Jingli, deputy director of the Institute of
Agricultural Economics and Development under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, told the Global Times.
Food Team News – September 2013
42
The country should not fully open the grain market to foreign companies and properly use the technology on developing
products like mechanic oil, Guo said. "After adequate experiments on the side effects of transgenic food are done, a system
on transgenic food in accordance with the domestic situation is needed," Guo Yanzhi, assistant researcher of the Institute of
Food and Nutrition Development under the ministry, told the Global Times, adding that governments on all levels should be
cautious about the use of transgenic technology. To let the people know about the possible side effects of transgenic food is
also important, this would help calm the public concern over it, Guo Yanzhi said.
Xinhua: Chinese vice premier stresses food safety
BEIJING, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- Strengthened supervision and harsher punishments are needed to ensure food safety for the
public, Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli urged on Wednesday. The general situation of food safety is stable, and public
access to safe food and water is guaranteed, but potential risks remain, Zhang said at a conference of the food safety
commission under the State Council, or China's cabinet. The government must impose strict controls over food sources and
prevent pollution from agricultural non-point sources. Food supervision should follow the entire process "from the farmland
to dining tables," he said. Non-point source pollution refers to water and air pollution from many different sources that have
no obvious discharge point. Zhang urged improving food safety standards and enhancing supervision. Local areas as well as
central and western China should prioritize allocating investment for food safety. Enterprises hold prime responsibilities,
while the government should regulate and manage businesses and consumers should be encouraged to participate in the
efforts, Zhang said.
Xinhua: Worries linger despite apology on GM rice test , 2013-09-21
CHANGSHA, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Parents of students in central China who took part in a joint China-U.S. test of genetically
modified (GM) rice said they still worry about possible negative impacts of the GM food on their children despite an apology
from the U.S. side. Tufts University said in an email to Xinhua Wednesday that it apologized for the "Golden Rice" test on
primary school students in a township in Hengnan county, Hunan province, which was conducted by its research team led by
the university's researcher Tang Guangwen. The rice is genetically-modified to be rich in beta carotene and the test was
intended to explore ways to prevent Vitamin A deficiency among children. The university said the test failed to comply with
the rules of its ethic review committee as well as the U.S. federal regulations even though no health and safety risks have been
detected among the participating children.
A father of one of the 25 children in the test, who declined to be named, said he did not accept the apology as it could not
completely dispel the worries. His child, who now is a second-grader at a junior high school, has not shown any abnormalities
in wake of the GM test, he said. "Till now, the GM test has not had any impacts on my child, but there is no guarantee that
there will no impacts in the future," he said. Last August, the parents panicked upon knowing their children had been fed GM
rice. "An apology is not the key issue," said another parent, who also declined to be named. "If my child shows abnormalities
in the future, I will surely sue them (the university)." He said his child has a bad temper and poor academic performance after
learning about the truth of the GM test. He, together with other parents, hoped that the American university could show
them with scientific evidence that the GM food would have no impacts on their children in long term. Families of the 25
children earlier each received 80,000 yuan (13,074 U.S. dollars) in compensation from local authorities. Greenpeace first
disclosed the test in August last year, saying that researchers fed "Golden Rice" to 25 children aged between six and eight in
Hunan. The exposure triggered fierce public backlash.
Greenpeace discovered the test from a paper published in the August edition of The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition
which claimed that "Golden Rice" is effective in providing Vitamin A to children. A following investigation by Chinese
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) showed Tang, together with researchers from the China CDC and
Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences, conducted the test without telling the school children's parents that GM food was
used. The probe showed the test was conducted in 2008 on 80 pupils at a township primary school in Hengnan county, with
25 of the children each being fed 60 grams of "Golden Rice" on June 2. Several Chinese disease control and prevention
officials and researchers were punished for certified the research as ethical and concealing information on the GM food test
to relevant parties. Tang has been banned from conducting human body research in the following two years, according to
Tufts University.
Food Team News – September 2013
43
Xinhua: China probes rotten fruit juice, 2013-09-23
BEIJING, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's food watchdog said it had ordered investigations into four beverage groups whose
juice products were reportedly made from rotten fruit. The announcement came after four companies based in the provinces
of Anhui, Jiangsu and Shandong, including two branches of Beijing Huiyuan, the country's top juice maker, were accused in
recent media reports of using rotten and unripe fruit to make juice. The China Food and Drug Administration said in a
Monday statement that preliminary investigations found no rotten fruit, indeed Shandong Huiyuan, a branch of Beijing
Huiyuan, hasn't produced any juice since December last year. According to the statement, the two companies in Anhui have
been ordered to suspend their operations and cooperate with law enforcement departments in further investigations. "Related
provincial food and drug administrations will handle these cases if further investigations find violations," the statement said.
Xinhua: China urges higher food safety standards, 2013-09-23
BEIJING, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese food safety authorities have been urged to better supervise food safety standards, in
the latest move to improve efforts in this area. In a document issued on Monday, the National Health and Family Planning
Commission called for local health departments to study and evaluate local food safety standards, especially standards on the
registration of local food-producing enterprises. The commission also asked local authorities to implement food safety
regulations in a scientific and transparent manner, and stick to enterprises' role as the first person responsible for food safety
scandals. Provincial health departments were told to improve service and streamline registration procedures in order to
provide convenience. China is in the process of cleaning up and integrating its food safety standards, and 5,000 redundant
food safety standards will be removed by the end of this year.
SCMP: Two juice plants halt production after 'rotten fruit' report, 2013-09-25
Two fruit juice companies have been ordered to suspend production to assist an investigation after a media report that they
had used rotten or unripe fruit in their products. The China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) branch in Dangshan
county in Anhui province on Monday inspected production sites of Anhui Dangshan Haisheng Fruit Juice, a subsidiary of
Shaanxi Haisheng Fresh Fruit Juice, and Wanbei Fruit Juice, of the Beijing Huiyuan Group, and found no stocks of rotten
fruit, according to an agency statement. The two plants were nonetheless ordered to stop production for "self-examination"
and help in the investigation. Product samples were taken for tests. The probe came after the 21st Century Business Herald
reported on Monday that the two companies in Dangshan county collected rotten fruit from farmers as raw material. The
report also cited a branch of Yantai North Andre Juice in Jiangsu province and a branch of Beijing Huiyuan in Shandong
province as carrying out similar practices. Shandong Huiyuan has not produced any juice since December last year and the
Jiangsu branch of Andre Juice did not produce any juice on Monday. The CFDA said the administration "attached great
importance" to the report and ordered food safety supervision authorities in Anhui, Jiangsu and Shandong to investigate the
claims immediately. Dangshan, well known for its pears, suffered a cold spell earlier this year and a tornado in July that
affected production, damaging more than 40 per cent of fruit. According to the report, farmers sold rotten and poor-quality
pears and apples to fruit distribution centres, which in turn sold them to the Huiyuan and Haisheng branches. Good quality
fruit went on sale in markets, according to the report. Huiyuan group denied using rotten fruit, saying all its stock was
checked and production was in accordance with national standards.
China Daily: Foreign retailers shop for new growth model, 2013-07-16
Foreign retailers aim to pursue new business models in China to compete with their mainland counterparts, as a surge in e-
commerce crimps margins across the industry. In its latest attempt to find the right model for growth in the nation, global
retailer Tesco Plc opened a large shopping mall, called Tesco Lifespace, in April in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong
province. Tesco owns the mall, which will help the Britain-based retailer maintain sustainable development amid fierce retail
competition, according to Chen Pei, operations manager of Tesco Property Ltd. The company has nine Lifespace stores and
117 hypermarkets across China. The Lifespace mall in Guangzhou includes top international brands, providing food,
entertainment and fashion. We will continue the policy of buying land and building our own properties for future growth in
China," said Chen. According to Chen, Tesco plans to expand the number of such stores to 15 to 20 in South China within
the next five years. "China remains an ideal destination for retail business expansion. We will concentrate on building the
right business model and finding the right market position for sustainable growth," Chen said. After entering China in 2004,
Food Team News – September 2013
44
the chain established its property business in the nation in 2008. Last year, Tesco closed four stores in China as it sought to
focus on what company sources called "strategically important areas".A boom in e-commerce, coupled with a slowing
economy, has made retail, characterized by razor-thin margins, even more challenging in recent years.
According to sources at www.china-consulting.cn, retailers in China experienced a 10.4 percent decline in net profits last year,
the first contraction in the past four years. "For both Chinese and foreign retailers, the traditional model relying on fast
expansion to raise leverage with suppliers and therefore increase profits is no longer working amid weakening purchasing
demand," said Sun Xiong, director of the Guangdong Chain Management Association.
Sources with the association said the net profit of the top 50 chain retailers in Guangdong plunged in 2012 due to rising
costs. For example, a local retail giant, Guangzhou Grandbuy, reported a net profit decline for the first time since it was
publicly listed in 2007. Its operating revenue grew just 2.3 percent year-on-year in 2012. Sun attributed the weak numbers to
rising online shopping and increased operating costs for retailers. "Foreign retailers need to change their strategy in China
amid fierce competition, rising costs and consumers' changing demand," Sun said. Following the closure of some
hypemarkets in recent months, Wal-Mart Stores Inc plans to open more Sam's Club stores (membership-only warehouse
clubs) to sustain growth in the Chinese market.
The company has 620 Sam's Club stores in the United States, which have proved successful growth engines. The Sam's Club
stores in the US generate $49 billion in sales annually. The world's largest retailer by revenue plans to open seven Sam's Club
stores in China in the next two or three years targeting affluent local families, sources with the company said. The Guangzhou
Sam's Club store, in the city's booming Panyu district, also began selling fresh and frozen products online. The online service
delivery area covers most of Panyu district and will soon expand to other districts such as Haizhu and Tianhe.
"We have always attached great importance to e-commerce service in our stores. We will have more products covered in the
online purchasing service in the near future," said Yan Haiyun, deputy director of the Sam's Club marketing and e-commerce
department. Also, in an effort to boost Chinese buyers' confidence, Wal-Mart said it will invest 100 million yuan ($16.3
million) in food safety management in its stores across China over the next three years.
In its latest initiative, the company launched a mobile testing program in Guangzhou, covering its 70-plus stores in
Guangdong province. "We hope to provide safe goods and good services to our Chinese customers to boost consumption,"
said Greg Foran, president and CEO of Wal-Mart China.
Wall Street Journal: China’s Austerity Drive Takes a Bite Out of Dining Industry, 2013-08-30
While some luxury companies are seeing signs that China’s austerity campaign may be losing momentum, restaurants are still
taking a hit. Restaurant sales in China are still increasing, but growth rates are slowing, resulting in the industry’s slowest
growth since 1991, according to the Ministry of Commerce. The only exception was 2003, when many restaurants suspended
business due to the SARS epidemic, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce said in a press briefing this week. Revenue
for China’s dining industry reached 2.3 trillion yuan ($375.8 billion) in 2012, up 14% from a year earlier, but representing a
3.3% drop in the growth rate, according to the Ministry of Commerce. Profit growth rates in the industry also slowed to less
than 1%, while operational costs have increased 14%, the spokesman said.
Last year, China’s leaders began curbing extravagant spending and discouraging outward signs of corruption, banning gifting
and luxurious bureaucratic banquets. Communist Party chief Xi Jinping paved the way, preparing to take up his post in March
by conspicuously avoiding excessive consumption during public trips around the country. He helped spread a catchphrase –
“four dishes, one soup” – to describe the government’s new pared-down work and dining style, marking a move from the
previous years’ lavish banquets featuring dozens of family-style dishes. The austerity campaign took a toll last year and during
the early part of 2013 on many luxury companies, such as U.K. luxury giant Burberry. But now some, such as jewelry
company Tiffany & Co. and Italy’s Prada, are reporting improving sales.
That’s still not the case for high-end dining companies, which are finding austerity unchanged on the menu. Shenzhen-listed
Xiang E Qing, an upscale restaurant chain that serves Hunan and Hubei cuisine, reported a net loss of 220 million yuan in the
Food Team News – September 2013
45
first half of 2013. The company has already shut all of its high-end businesses and eight restaurants, including ones prime
locations at shopping mecca Nanjing Road in Shanghai and Nanxincang in Beijing, next to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
the Ministry of Culture and state-owned enterprises such as PetroChina and Cnooc. Peking roast duck restaurant China
Quanjude Group002186.SZ -0.21% reported a 31% decrease in profit in the first half of 2013, while Shanghai Cuisine Xiao
Nan Guo Restaurant Holdings Limited saw 43% profit drop in the same period. To make up for losses, Xiang E Qing
executives say they will explore overseas markets like the U.S. and Australia, and expand into catering and fast food. The
company hasn’t lost all its government supporters, though. As it moves into the catering sector, it recently won a bid to
service the Ministry of Commerce’s canteen.–Fanfan Wang and Laurie Burkitt
Correction: The restaurant chain Xiang E Qing posted a net loss of 220 million yuan in the first half of 2013. An earlier
version of this post impossibly said it reported a 388% drop in net profit.
People’s Daily: Ecology gets boost from development, 2013-07-18
The tour has overridden concerns over the environment and instead accelerated ecological restoration in the Qinghai Lake
region. Part of the lakeside pavement has been submerged, and this is a welcome sign, according to specialists. "It is a proof
that the environment around the lake is recovering," said He Yubang, deputy head of the Qinghai Lake Nature Reserve. The
lake, the nation's largest inland saline water body, had been shrinking due to overgrazing and reclamation, but that trend has
been reversed. In 2005, the local environment authority issued tougher regulations on pollution. According to the Qinghai
Climate Center, the lake will keep increasing for the next 20 years. "Things have been getting better and better over the past
12 years, during which time the race has brought huge publicity," He said. The government launched a comprehensive
ecological environment protection program, investing 1.6 billion yuan ($261 million) to combat the shrinking. The program
has seen the wetland reserve area around the lake spread to more than 4 million square meters while a 40 million-sq-m area
was covered by vegetation. The fishery administrative center in Qinghai and the provincial administration for industry and
commerce also joined forces to crack down on illegal fishing in the lake. Carp, a protected species, now dart through the lake.
During the 2013 tour, more than 150 roller skaters from Qinghai and nearby areas initiated an environment protection event
to clean up garbage and waste along the lake. Feng Jianping, director of Qinghai Sports Bureau, said more eco-friendly mass
fitness campaigns will be organized in conjunction with the cycle race. "We need to seize the opportunity when we are under
the spotlight to further push environmental protection efforts. The beauty of nature has always been a major attraction of the
race, so we can't disappoint riders from across the world."
Xinhua: Senior Party official stresses ecological progress, 2013-09-14
BEIJING, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Liu Yunshan, senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC), called for efforts to
promoting ecological progress to build a beautiful country. Liu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau
of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks Saturday in a tour to the International Garden Expo Park in Beijing. The
spread of knowledge on science and technology should be intensified among the public to raise the ecological awareness of
respecting, protecting and conforming to nature, Liu said. Visiting the south-to-north water diversion project exhibition area
in the park, Liu spoke highly of the project, saying the major scheme to divert water from the water-abundant south has
contributed to development of the usually arid north. Vice Premier Liu Yandong, head of the CPC Central Committee's
Publicity Department Liu Qibao and Vice President Li Yuanchao also visited the park.
