Chinese PM promises tougher food-safety regulations

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao admitted on Saturday that his country's image as a food exporter was greatly affected by the recent incident of tainted dairy products.
However, he promised tougher food-safety regulatory measures "in every process and link" of China's manufacturing of dairy products.
China's legislation on food safety would be improved to meet the international standards and requirements by importing countries, Wen said. He added that individuals held responsible for the scandal have been prosecuted.
"I know this incident has caused great damage. We will overcome this problem and ensure safe and healthy food production. This task is not easy for us," the Chinese premier told a press conference held after the closing of the 7th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM 7).
"This problem is not only for companies [involved] but also for the government," he said of the milk contamination scandal.
The recent discovery of melamine-tainted milk products from China scared many consumers around the world.
Melamine is known to cause kidney and urinary problems and its use in food production is universally banned. However, it is sometimes illegally added to food products in order to increase their apparent protein content.
Food safety was among the topics discussed by leaders from Asian and European Union nations during their Beijing summit.
The Chinese leader dominated the press briefing organised at the end of the ASEM summit at the Great Hall of the People.
He spent more than 10 minutes answering the first question from a French journalist as to whether there was any concrete result from the summit.
Wen said the fact that the participating leaders issued a joint statement reflected their consensus in dealing with the issues discussed, which included the global financial crisis, poverty and natural disasters.
He also focused on the need for the parties involved to restore confidence, increase cooperation, and take responsibility.
Only four questions were allowed at the press conference, which lasted slightly over half an hour. Less than 100 media representatives were permitted to attend the event in a pool arrangement. About 1,700 media members registered to cover the Beijing summit, according to the organisers.
Other ASEM leaders taking part in the post-summit press conference were French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in his capacity as the current president of the European Union, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei (who is the coordinator from Asean), and European Commission President Jos้ Manuel Barroso.
ASEM 7 was participated by 45 leaders from Asian and European Union nations. It was the largest ever of an inter-regional summit that was organised for the first time in Bangkok 12 years ago.
In their joint statement on the international financial situation, the ASEM leaders promised a reform of the international monetary and financial systems.
The leaders agreed to support the convening of an international summit next month in Washington DC to address the current financial crisis.
They also called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other relevant international financial institutions to help stabilise the global financial situation. The statement asked for IMF to provide help to countries seriously affected by the crisis, when requested.