Lawmakers discuss amendment to Food Safety Law
中国讨论食品安全法修正案

A survey in China has shown that food safety has become the public's top concern.

In a government work report delivered on March 5th, Premier Li Keqiang vowed to crack down on fake and substandard food products, promising tough penalties for guilty producers.

Li also said the government will increase transparency on environment and food safety issues. China's "Food Safety Law" was amended for the first time last year.

In January, the government began asking the public's opinion on a second amendment, which boosts supervision of online food purchases and market circulation of agricultural products.

NPC deputies have spoken on the need to increase food safety.

"I think the focus of food safety should be on agriculture. It's also the most difficult point. Numbers show that 80% of Chinese people's diets consist of agricultural products. Control of the quality of these products is therefore the key issue for food safety," NPC deputy Dai Tianrong said.

"I think what harms our food safety reputation is the inferior quality of products on the market. In order to build a food industry of international standard, I think we need to further reinforce supervision and penalties," NPC deputy Sui Ximing said.