The overall revenue of the Big Health industry has been growing in recent years. In 2018, the revenue exceeded RMB 5 trillion and is expected to exceed RMB 9 trillion in 2020, an increase of 32.1%. The improvement in living standards has catalyzed a consistent demand for nutrition and health. As a result, health food is not only loved by the elderly population, but is increasingly sought after by young people, especially the post-90s. In the medium and long term, the output value of the health food industry will still maintain a high growth trend.
Bian Zhenjia, President of the CNHFA, said that the pandemic outbreak this year has led to an unprecedented increase in the importance people attach to health, and the demand for nutritional and health products has risen to the highest level in recent years. The health food industry has survived the "Quanjian Scandal" and is slowly regaining its vitality. Since this year, the overall order of the industry has improved significantly, and the performance of some listed enterprises in the first three quarters has witnessed significant growth, with the output value expected to exceed RMB 400 billion this year.
He added that, on the other hand, the industry has suffered from various problems, such as product homogeneity, weak independent innovation, low technology standards, and insufficient industrial concentration. Some enterprises' main products approved by the former Ministry of Health have not been updated since then and can no longer adapt to the current requirements of relevant national laws and regulations.
Zhang Fenglou, former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health and former Chairman of the China Health Care Association said that regulation is an integral part of the development of the industry. In his opinion, there is a lot of room for the development of health food. He suggested that we should popularize relevant knowledge and support genuine health food products to guide consumers to consume reasonably and scientifically. He mentioned that strict laws should be enforced on a day-to-day basis to put an end to discretionary power. He added that we should establish a good mechanism to develop nutritional health food and discipline ourselves to create a sound environment.
The two-day forum saw the launch of the Health Food Positive Energy Action. The CNHFA together with Xinhua Net launched the Action to reduce business risks and reflect the social value of the industry by presenting the continuous progress of the industry.
Guo Haifeng, Deputy Secretary-General (part-time) of the CNHFA, released the CNHFA health food work report and development plan under the theme of "Becoming Responsible Organizations and Achieving High-Quality Development".
Wan Chao, Director of the Health Food Registration Division of the SAMR Special Food Safety Regulation Department, and Liu Hongyu, Director of the Health Food Process Standard Review Department of the SAMR Food Review Centre, gave a detailed introduction on the regulation of health food registration and the construction of the health food raw materials standard system. The following guests also shared their views: Meng Dongping, Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice Chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce for import & Export of Medicines & Health Products (CCCMHPIE); Hu Yinglian, Professor of the Department of Social and Ecological Civilization of the Central Party School (AKA the National School of Administration); and Xu Xiping, Executive Director of the CNHFA Precision Nutrition Committee. Topics covered during the event include "the Internationalization of China's Nutrition and Health Industry", "Finding the Balance of the Fang Guan Fu reform: Innovation of Health Food Regulatory System in the New Era", and "the CNHFA Precision Nutrition Plan".
Yan Weixing, former Deputy Director of the National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment; Zhang Ding, former Director of the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention and former Deputy Director of the Henan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention; Sun Xiaobo, Director of the Institute of Medicinal Plants, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences; Zhang Lishi, Professor of the West China School of Public Health, Sichuan University; Yun Zhenyu, Deputy Director of the Agri-Food Center, the National Institute of Standardization; Li Keji, Professor of the School of Public Health, Peking University; Xu Binhai, Researcher of the National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment; and Zhong Weijian, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention, talked about "Innovation in Nutritional Health Food", "Specific Measures for the Development of the Big Health Industry", "Application of Genetic Testing Technology in Health Management", and "Education for the Promotion of Health Knowledge among the Younger Generation".
Leading industrial enterprises were also invited to exchange views on "Raw Materials and Ingredients for Health Food" and "Functional Innovation in Health Food". In addition, specific discussions were held on the topics of "Standardisation of Raw Materials and Ingredients and the Future of the Dual-Track Registration System", "Functional Innovation and the Roadmap to High-Quality Industrial Development" and "the Future of Health Food".
