The China Food and Nutrition Development Outline 2014-2020 was released by the State Council, or China's Cabinet on Feb. 10th, 2014, focusing on effective supply of food and improvement of dietary pattern and nutrition.
Being the 3rd of its kind, it took over three years to finalize the Outline. The drafting group was jointly led by Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) and National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC), and composed of representatives from National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Commerce.
The Outline reviewed China's achievements and problems in food and nutrition, and set down the guiding principles for the next 7 years, i.e. to meet the expectations of the people, to build up people's health and to contribute to the building of Xiaokang society.
The Outline identified effective food supply and balanced nutrition as priorities for future work. In addition, priority products, regions and population groups should be specified. Measures should be taken to guide rational consumption with modern nutrition concepts, foster nutritional needs-driven food industry but conserve local diet of distinctive features as well. Relevant policies will be made to guarantee coordinated food and nutrition development both in food quantity and quality, both in production and consumption, and both in innovation and inheritance.
The Outline set goals for China's food and nutrition development by 2020 in the areas of food production, food processing, food consumption, nutrient intake and nutritional disease control. Up to 21 indicators were detailed, including 550 million tons for annual grain output, 135 kg staple food per year for per capita availability and 10% above growth rate for the added value of food processing industry.
To this end, the Outline put forward approaches, set up working mechanisms, and laid out specific measures to ensure its implementation.