Long-term efforts must follow health product cleanup campaign: China Daily editorial

The ongoing three-month national crackdown on illegal practices in the health products market, which started early this month, is a welcome move.

Problems, such as false advertising, counterfeit goods and poor-quality products, have long existed in this sector and they have become a consistent source of complaints. Many consumers of these products are senior citizens, often with chronic diseases and without much knowledge about medical science, and they tend to easily fall prey to the promotional spiel of the sellers, who may even be part of a scam.

As China enters an aging society, the demand for health products from senior citizens continues to grow. The size of the market — which includes food, equipment and wearable devices — is estimated to already be worth billions of dollars, and it is expected to grow at a double-digit rate in the years to come.

Yet compared with the explosive market expansion, government supervision has lagged far behind, often compromised by a shortage of law enforcement personnel and the lack of coordination among different government departments. For example, it is the public health departments that are responsible for verifying the claims of health food advertisements, yet the right to law enforcement rests with the market regulatory agency. This situation inevitably leads to passing the buck and even neglect of duties.

This explains why Tianjin-based health products giant, Quanjian, could be so successful, before its many irregularities such as false advertising and pyramid-style selling were exposed. The local government conducted an investigation into the company only after a social media post — claiming a 7-year-old girl died after forgoing medical treatment in favor of taking herbal products that Quanjian claimed could treat cancer — sparked a public outcry.

It is unrealistic to expect the health products market will be spotlessly clean and in impeccable order after the campaign. The huge profits to be gained — many products are sold at a price a dozen times their actual costs — mean there will always be those ready to take a chance testing the moral and legal bottom line.

To deter them in the long run, laws must be updated and institutional reform must be carried out to make a national supervision system more responsive and efficient. The China Food and Drug Administration has already established a new department to better manage "special food" registration.

Yet more needs to be done, and people need to be better informed of how to live a healthy lifestyle, so they are not so easily duped by the quick-fix claims of false health advertising.