Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli (3rd R, rear), also head of the State Council's food safety commission, presides over a plenary meeting of the commission in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 11, 2018. Wang Yang (2nd R, rear), a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and deputy head of the commission, attended the meeting. (Xinhua/Wang Ye)

BEIJING, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli pledged Sunday the country will adopt the strictest punishments and the most rigorous standards to ensure food safety.

Zhang, also head of the State Council's food safety commission, made the remarks at a plenary meeting of the commission.

Wang Yang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and deputy head of the commission, attended the meeting.

Zhang required efforts to modernize the systems and capacity for food safety administration, stressing that both the production and supervision processes need to be strengthened.

Noting that the CPC Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to food safety work, Zhang said related work has yielded significant achievements and the food safety situation has stayed generally stable over the past five years.

Wang said the standards system for food safety should be improved and supervision should be enhanced at grassroots levels.

Wang also called for better industrial self-discipline, greater public supervision, and deepened supply-side structural reform in the sector to promote the high-quality development of related industries and to ensure more safe, nutritious, and healthy foods for the people.