Govt pumps in $1b to raise drug, food safety

China will spend 8.8 billion yuan ($1.16 billion) to improve food and drug supervision, the industry watchdog announced yesterday.

The money will mainly be spent on building or upgrading infrastructure which will be in place by 2010, State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) spokeswoman Yan Jiangying said.

Yan also announced that the SFDA will hold press conferences every two weeks to brief the media on the food security situation. During the first regular briefing on July 11, Yan admitted the country's food and drug situation was unsatisfactory and vowed to improve it.