Action plan aims to expand market for health products

Chinese authorities on April 9 released an action plan to boost health-related consumption as the country moves to improve the quality of its health products and services, and to meet people's expanding needs in the pursuit of a better life.

According to the Ministry of Commerce, the plan was formulated based on the increasing awareness of a healthy lifestyle among the public, which boasts huge potential for consumption in the realm of health products.

To spur such spending, China will work to increase the healthiness of people's diets and improve the market supply of special foods, according to the plan, which was promulgated by the commerce ministry and 11 other government departments.

The supply of high-quality agricultural products will be strengthened, and there will be a crackdown on illegal food additives, the plan said.

China will create more fitness and sports consumption scenarios and develop sports tourism. The country will also bolster services for the elderly, and the plan pledges efforts to facilitate their online and offline consumption, and to enrich their cultural life.

Work will also be carried out to develop new service businesses such as those providing health examinations, consultations and management, and to accelerate the establishment of rehabilitation hospitals, nursing homes and palliative care institutions, according to the plan.

Ministry to further boost small and medium-sized businesses

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced on April 9 plans to accelerate the development of mechanisms that support the growth of specialized, refined, distinctive and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises.

At the ninth SME roundtable, an official from the ministry emphasized that SMEs are a driving force in cultivating new quality productive forces and advancing new industrialization.

The official called on enterprises to actively align with national strategies, strengthen innovation-led development, and focus on deepening specialization, refining operations, enhancing distinctiveness and fostering innovation.

The aim is to cultivate more unique capabilities and continuously improve product quality, operational efficiency and core competitiveness.

To support this effort, the ministry will strengthen its empowerment initiatives across five key areas: innovation, digitalization, talent development, ecosystem building and service provision. The ministry will also improve the precision of policy support to effectively address the challenges SMEs face.

Modern meteorological services to meet farming needs

The China Meteorological Administration recently issued guidelines to develop a modern meteorological service system tailored to agriculture, supporting rural vitalization and agricultural modernization.

By 2030, the goal is to establish a system aligned with modern agricultural and rural development needs. By 2035, the system will be further improved, with meteorological services playing a key role in disaster prevention, risk reduction and boosting agricultural productivity.

Key tasks include enhancing rural meteorological disaster response by building a warning system based on disaster type, region and time, improving information dissemination, and offering disaster prevention training.

In addition, it is essential to strengthen the capacity of modern agricultural meteorological services by advancing the construction of agricultural meteorological disaster prevention and mitigation projects, and optimizing the layout of new agricultural meteorological observation networks and experimental stations.

The guidelines also emphasize the integration of meteorological services into the development of harmonious and beautiful villages, such as fostering the deep integration of meteorological landscapes with rural tourism.

To support implementation, efforts should be made to enhance research on meteorological services for agriculture in areas such as artificial intelligence, reinforce the development of smart agricultural meteorological service bases, foster industry-academia-research collaboration, and train experts and local service teams.

China Daily - Xinhua