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January31,2017–Issue231
INSIDETHISISSUE
JiangsuLaunchedBig-Data
ProjectonFoodandDrug
Regulation
ChinaPlanstoLiftLife
ExpectancyThroughBetter
HealthCare
Shijiazhuang:InfantFoodCould
BeTracked
CBNDataReleasedReporton
Children'sDietarySupplement
Jiangsu Launched Big-Data Project on Food and Drug
Regulation
TheprovincialregulatorsofJiangsuprovincerecentlylauncheda
digital tracking system based on big-data system of food and
drugregulation.Theprojectwaslaunchedbytheprovincialbigdatacenteroffoodanddrugregulationwithacloudservice.
The system aims to cover the major three food companies of
wine, dairy products and food additives province-wide by the
endof2017.Bythehalfhalfof2018,thesystemisexpectedto
helpconnectthedigitalsystemsofcommercedepartmentsand
agriculturedepartmentstoenhancethegovernment'sabilityto
analyseonfoodsafetyrisks.
ThousandsofForeignBrands
EnterChinaThroughEcommerce
The project aims to integrate the regulatory information
resources among different levels of food and drug regulators.
Thesystemisalsoexpectedtocovergeneralgood,healthfood,
drug, medical equipment and cosmetics. (Source: China Food
Machinerynet)
ChinaHealthPlanThreatened
byShortageofFamilyDoctors
China Plans to Lift Life Expectancy Through Better
HealthCare
All-RoundReformsNeededin
Healthcare
China'sStateCouncil,orCabinet,hasreleasedaplanonmedical
and health care, highlighting the need to identify diseases
earlier.
The plan will complement efforts to increase the country's
average life expectancy by one year to more than 77 years by
2020.
Thefive-yearplan,forthe2016-2020period,calledformeasures
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U.S.–CHINAHEALTHPRODUCTSASSOCIATION
to assist the earlier detection of serious diseases
including strokes and cancers, as well as better
treatment for issues such as hypertension and
diabetes among people with high blood pressure,
bloodglucose,bloodfatorobesity.
To address the current shortage of nurses, the
governmentwilllaunchtrainingprogramssothatthe
countrywillhave3.14nursesperthousandpeopleby
2020. This translates into 4.45 million nurses
nationwide.
An additional 89,000 hospital beds, and 140,000
obstetricians and midwives will be added to cope
with rising demand and medical resource shortage
sinceChinaallowedallcouplestohavetwochildren regularly, and special campaigns targeting health
atthebeginningof2016.
food and cosmetics of special use will also be
launched.(Source:HebeiNews)
As 16.1 percent of China's population were 60 or
overin2015,theplanalsodiscussedhowtohelpthe Production Approval of Cosmetics Have All been
elderly with various methods, including traditional RenewedinSichuan
medicine,exerciseanddiet.
Based on the request by the national food and
The government also aims to ensure more than 70 drug regulator, Sichuan provincial regulator has
percent of those aged 65 and over have access to processed 50 applications in 2016 to renew
health management services by 2020, which can cosmetics production approval. 40 of the
evaluate health conditions, control health risks and applicantsgotrenewedapproval.
providehealthguidance.(Source:Xinhua)
To accomplish the task in time as requested, the
Shijiazhuang:InfantFoodCouldBeTracked
provincialregulatorlaunchedpromotioncampaign
toaskcosmeticscompaniestoapplyforrenewby
The local food and drug authority of Shijiazhuang the end of 2016. The provincial food and drug
recentlyreleasedtheirgovernmentplanforthenext bureau launched seminars to map out specific
fiveyears,includingthesetupofafoodanddrugrisk plans to mobilize departments and get a better
monitoringplatforminthecity,holdingvendorsand ideaofcompany'srelevantinformation.
manufacturersoffoodanddrugaccountable.
Special attention was paid by the regulators to
Food and drug regulatory institutions have covered production process of cosmetics companies who
allmajordistricts,countriesandtownsunderthecity applied for production approval renewal. (Source:
so far, with over 90% of the regulators being SichuanFDA)
professionalsinfood,legalordrugaffairs.
CBNData Released Report on Children's
The substandard food and other relevant products
would be required to be taken down from shelf DietarySupplement
immediatelyafterbeingspotted.Productionsbykey CBNData, the commercial data center under the
companies that produce infant food, diary product, financial newspaper recently released a report on
meatproduct,winewillbecomprehensivelytracked.
the consumption of children's dietary
Drugs sold in the local market will be checked supplements.
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U.S.–CHINAHEALTHPRODUCTSASSOCIATION
The report shows that demands and preferences
over this kind of products vary a lot based on
different areas and ages of parents. Many parents
choose to buy these products online. Over 50% of
theseproductssoldonlineareforeignbrands.
Female consumers account for 70% of the
consumptionforcewithagrowingnumberofmoms
who were born in 1990s. This group of buyers are
less religious towards foreign brands, which their
parent generations believed having better quality
comparedwithdomesticproducts.Theyalsoliketo
choose traditional Chinese health products while
buyingacertainnumberofforeignproducts.
Moms based in Xinjiang love health products of
western brands the most, followed by those based
inSichuan. Parentsin Beijing and Shanghai likethe
Chinese traditional nutrition supplement the least
comparedwiththeirpeersinotherregions.
KidsinShanghailovehealthsnacksthemost.Kidsin
northeastpartofChinalovecheeseandothermilkbasedproductsthemost.(Source:ChinaNews)
Thousands of Foreign Brands Enter China
ThroughE-commerce
Relaxedgovernmentrestrictionsonimportedgoods
bought online and the growing demand among
Chinese consumers for foreign goods is driving
growth for Tmall Global, an online marketplace
operated by Alibaba, according to a report by
ChineseresearchfirmCBNDataandAlibabaGroup
HoldingLtd.
The report says in 2016, Chinese consumers could
buy products on Tmall Global in 3,700 categories
from brands or retailers from 63 countries, a
substantial increase from a selection of 1,700
categoriessoldbyretailersfrom50courtiersayear
ago. There are now 14,500 brands selling on Tmall
Global, and 80% of those brands never previously
soldinChina,eitheronlineorinstores,accordingto
thereport.
In the April of2016, Chinaadjusted theimporttax
forgoodspurchasedinsmallquantitiesfromforeign
websites, in most cases making such goods more
affordable for China’s middle-class consumers.
ManyChineseshoppers are skepticalofthequality
of China-made products, and the lower tax rate in
categories like cosmetics is boosting online orders.
According to research firm iResearch, cross-border
e-commerceimportsintoChinagrewabout30%to
1.25 trillion yuan ($182 billion) in 2016 and will
growatasimilarpacein2017,withretailpurchases
accountingformostofthosetransactions.Whilethis
report focused on Tmall Global, Alibaba’s main
rivals, such as JD.com Inc. and the Amazon China
unit of Amazon.com Inc. also have created online
shopping portals devoted to imported goods.
JD.com is No. 1 in the Internet Retailer China 500,
which ranks retailers bytheir onlinesalesin China,
and Amazon China is No. 4. Although Alibaba’s
marketplaces account for roughly three-quarters of
online retail sales in China, the company is not
rankedbecauseithoststhestoresofotherretailers
anddoesnotsellmerchandiseitself.
Brands from Japan, the United States and South
KoreaaccountforthelargestshareofsalesonTmall
Global,buttheCBN/Alibabareportnotesthatsales
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fromEuropeanbrandsgrewthefastestin2016.
Inresponse,Chinaishopingtorelymoreongeneral
practitioners, known as family doctors. The State
ThenumberofconsumerswhopurchasedonTmall Councilannouncedafive-yearhealthplanlastweek
Global more than doubled in 2016, and many of thataimstoincreaseaveragelifeexpectancybyone
them are young adults just starting their careers, yearto77.3yearsbytheendof2020.
thereportsays.Morethanhalfofnewshopperson
Tmall Global are between the ages of 20 and 25 It called for an increase in the number of doctors
years old, and many live in small ormidsized cities from the current level of 1.5 per 1,000 citizens to
where e-commerce provides the only way to buy morethantwoby2020.Thatcompareswithfigures
importedproducts.
of1.9inBraziland2.8inBritain.TheplansaidChina
would need to employ an extra 140,000
Younger consumers spend a lot on sporting goods, obstetricians and midwives to cope with rising
the report says. For example, younger male demand after the country scrapped its one-child
consumersoftenbuysportsshoesfrombrandslike policy in favour of allowing couples to have two
NikeandAdidas,whilewomenarebuyingSkechers children.
brandshoes.
Thesalesofalcoholproductsalsoincreasedin2016.
Beersmade intheU.S.and winesfrom France and
Italyarebest-sellersinthiscategoryonTmallGlobal,
accordingtothereport.
Policy changes can have a big impact on sales of
importedgoodsintoChina.Forexample,thereport
notes that the reduced importdutieson cosmetics
lifted that category into the top spot in sales on
Tmall Global, unseating food and children’s
products, which had been the most popular
categories.(Source:internetretailer.com)
But a recent survey suggested it would be difficult
torecruitthenumberofdoctorsrequired.Inthe10
China Health Plan Threatened by Shortage years to 2015, Chinese universities produced 4.7m
ofFamilyDoctors
medical graduates, while the total number of
doctorsrosebyjust750,000,representinga16per
An ambitious plan by China to increase its doctor centincrease,accordingtodatacompiledbyAngela
numbers by nearly 40 per cent over the next five FanofTaiwan'sNationalYang-MingUniversity.
years faces a severe test as medical graduates
choose other professions because of low pay and The medical profession is relatively poorly paid in
overwork.
China, with the average doctor's salary just
Rmb5,000 ($720) a month. "In comparison with
China'sageingpopulationandgrowingburdenfrom young doctor sin the US, the young in China are
conditionssuchascanceranddiabetesisleavingits extremely unsatisfied with their salaries," Ms Fan
underfunded public hospitals, the first port of call said.
formostpatients,increasinglystrained.
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Low pay is also the root of a widespread kickback
culture in Chinese hospitals. When state
broadcaster CCTV last month exposed doctors in
ShanghaireceivingaRmb1,800monthlyfeefroma
drug sales agent, the staff were suspended and an
investigationlaunched.Butfewexpectsuchexposés
toendthephenomenon.
One self-described "low-level doctor" commented
on website Cn-healthcare: "Each month we take
home a measly paycheck ... I feel we are being
turnedintodrugsalesstaff."
Chinese doctors are also overworked, often seeing
asmanyas12patientsanhour,andhavebeenthe
victims of attacks from patients and their family
membersfrustratedovermedicalcare.
scandalsandseriouslypunishthedoctorsinvolved.
The doctor deficit is particularly stark in the
countryside,which had a shortfall of more than However, what is more important are the
500,000 physicians in 2015, and in certain optimization of medical resources, the effective
promotion of healthcare, the separation of
specialitiessuchaspaediatrics.
pharmacies from medical institutions and the
Nearlyhalfofallregistered paediatricianslefttheir establishment of doctor-patient communication
positions between 2005 and 2011 because of low mechanisms. The basic rights of patients and
payandlongworkinghours,officialssaidlastyear.
doctors should be guaranteed. The social and
economic status of doctors should be promoted.
"Ifthispatterncontinues,Chinawillsufferachronic
Only by doing this can healthcare corruptions be
shortage of medical doctors in certain specialities
effectivelycurbed.
and in rural areas," the researchers said. The high
numberofmedicaldropoutswould"onlycompound China's modernization has encountered many
theproblem"ofincreasedhealthcareneedscaused contradictions and challenges, and needs in-depth
by an ageing society, they added.(Source: Financial reforms from all areas. This also applies to China's
Times)
healthsector.
All-RoundReformsNeededinHealthcare
Afteraneight-monthinvestigation,CCTVlauncheda
16-minute special report about pharmaceutical
commissions, and pointed out that doctors'
kickbacks canaccount for30to40 percentofdrug
prices.Thishascausednationwideconcern.
Theobjectivesofhospitalsaretoservepatientsand
meet people's aspirations for health and longevity.
Facedwithmodernobstacles,modernideasshould
alsobeappliedtothereformofhealthcare,suchas
a sense of equality and the principle of loyalty to
resolveconflictsbetweendoctorsandpatients.
The scientific spirit can effectively improve medical
Itcanbesaidthattheslightlycalmeddoctor-patient practices and contribute to the rational use of
relationshipwillonceagainflareup.
healthresources.
Soon after the report came out, China's National Withasenseofequality,publicmedicalservicesare
Health and Family Planning Commission urged morelikelytobedeliveredtothepoor.Besides,the
relateddepartmentstoinvestigatethedrugrebate
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U.S.–CHINAHEALTHPRODUCTSASSOCIATION
principleofgoodfaithcanbeconducivetothesettlementofproblemssuchasexcessiveprescriptionsand
kickbacks.
Inaddition,whenreportingonthepharmaceuticalindustry,mediashouldhaveprofessionalattainments
andshowrationality.
WhenreprintingreportsfromCCTV,somemedia,inordertoattractattention,exaggeratedthepercentage
of commissions doctors got. This can only aggravate the embarrassment in medical circles for some
doctors'misconducts.
Media should be a bridge for rational communication and contribute to the rebuilding of trust when
coveringsuchscandals.(Source:People'sDaily)
ClickHereforMoreInformation
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U.S.–CHINAHEALTHPRODUCTSASSOCIATION
China Updates is published weekly by the U.S. – China Health Products Association, a non-profit
organization dedicated to the promotion of dietary supplements and nutritional ingredients. The
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