On December 11, 2012, a senior Chinese health official promised to intensify the supervision of food and water safety in the upcoming year. In the year 2012, about 88 new standards were published on food safety which expanded the monitoring network on chemical contamination and pathogenic microorganisms in food.
Chen Xiahong, the vice minister for health in China, said on the topic of health supervision that about 60 percent of the country would be covered by the end of 2013. In the month of July, 2012, China had upgraded its standards on water safety, which now consists of 106 indicators instead of the 35 mentioned earlier.
Chen also said that about 83 percent of water from plants in the cities qualify according to the new standards. The vice minister also said that 28,600 water safety inspection stations have been set up so far and that it covers all the cities at or above prefecture level, including 30 percent of the country.
Measures will now be taken to meet the requirements of the newly revised law on Occupational Illness Prevention and control. In the year 2012, 486 additional medical institutions were licensed and the institutions were offered occupational health inspection services. Chen also said that more occupational health evaluation centers will be available in more than 90 percent of China eventually.
