Held by ChemLinked from June 21st-25th 2021, the Food Digital Week (FDW) has completed with explorations, sharing and exchanges of some priority topics, including food import policy, health food, dairy and infant formula, pet food and cross border e-commerce. Multiple food experts left a footprint with insightful presentations, such as Mr. Jiao Yang (director of TBT research center of GAC), Mr. Zhang Zhongpeng (director of China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export of Medicines & Health Products), Mrs. Jan Carey (CEO of the Infant Nutrition Council), and Ms. Andrea Gottschalk (social media strategist of Digiant Global). Over 300 participants, with backgrounds from the Department of Agriculture of Australia, New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, Blackmores, Fonterra, CHR-HANSEN, Thai Union, H&H Global, DSM, and AAK, flocked in this five-day event.
video clip of lecture in Food Digital Week
Key Takeaways from the Food Digital Week
Analysis on “New Administrative Measures on Safety of Imported and Exported Food”
Yang Jiao, director of TBT Research Centre of International Research Center for Inspection and Quarantine Standards and Technical Regulations of GACC, provided the details of the latest customs supervision, which serves as the critical foundation of the issuance of the new “Administrative Measures on Safety of Imported and Exported Food”. He stated that based on the service framework of the new customs, a lot of major reforms were introduced into the new Measures, which could be exemplified by the further implementation of responsibilities of all parties. Take the obligations of exporting countries for instance, as the overseas manufacturer registration is mandatory and enterprises of 18 categories of food need to be recommended by the local government, the competent authority of the exporting countries should conduct stringent supervision and then recommend qualified enterprises to China. He also shed light on some most concerned issues like new requirements for manufacturer registration and product labeling.
Cross-Border E-Commerce: A New Opportunity for Imported Health Food in China
Zhongpeng Zhang, director of China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export of Medicines & Health Products, introduced cross border e-commerce policy and shared his insights on the opportunities for the imported health food in China. As CBEC-traded health food are exempted from product registration/filing, overseas enterprises can export the products to China via CBEC at first to see the market’s response, then determine if it is necessary to apply for administrative approval to get this product permitted to be imported through general trade (instead of CBEC only).
Zhongpeng Zhang held positive attitude towards the imported health food market. Although Chinese health food policies and market are frequently changed, imported health foods have earned higher brand reputation among consumers and can utilize CBEC to lower their market access threshold to China. Besides, the less strict supervision environment in overseas countries promotes the development of innovative products, which increases their core competitiveness. To maximize the profits in China, the overseas enterprises should ensure high product quality and guarantee that the products imported are compliant with Chinese food regulations/standards.
Challenges and Opportunities in China’s Infant Formula Market
Jan Carey, CEO of the Infant Nutrition Council, provided her deep insights into China’s infant formula market and analyzed the opportunities and challenges existed. In her opinion, although China’s government offers great support to its domestic infant formula products, she still sees a continued middle-class appetite for imported, premium, and innovated products among Chinese consumers. Jan stated “Chinese consumers are very savvy. They research products and want the very best for their children. Thus, in spite of the “China Pride” Campaign (which calls for “Chinese products for Chinese babies”), they still opt to choose premium and imported products.” In her speech, other factors like geo-political tension, China’s continued investment in the ANZ industry, China’s policy support for e-commerce sales channel are also discussed.
Please click here to access the video and slides of all presentations delivered during FDW.
We provide full-scale global food market entry services (including product registration, ingredient review, regulatory consultation, customized training, market research, branding strategy). Please contact us to discuss how we can help you by 
