Hao Hao ReportThe best China news and blog posts

The new product identification and tracking system, which has been in the spotlight recently over concerns it may raise production costs, has been written into the draft food safety law. It is very encouraging that the government is stepping up to the plate regarding food safety regulation.

I don’t see how western governments are going to persuade anyone in China to do anything. Ultimately, it’s probably so that the EU and America can wring their hands when problems arise and say “I am innocent”.

I have law students asking me for career advice all the time. Let’s assume you are a law student interested in doing international law in China. It's different than just networking at your local bar association because your interests are more focused. But there are still a number of ways.

Canada should wrap up more free trade agreements with countries - including China - and revamp the national trade policy because Canada is disappearing from the international stage, a parliamentary committee warns.
"Ultimately, free trade is where we want to go [with China]," International Trade minister David Emerson said. This is the first time a federal Tory minister has made it clear that a free trade talk with China is at least on the drawing board.

Just how real is China’s renewable energy revolution? It may be manufacturing a lot of cleantech goods, but the extent of domestic uptake leaves more to be desired. At the same time, global supply chains face the increasing strain of sustained high oil prices. What does the end of cheap oil, decades of which has subsidized international trade, mean for China’s new green path?

Technical glitch? Government crackdown? As always with the Web in China, it’s very hard to say. Facebook didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. China’s censors don’t discuss which sites they target – or, for that matter, the fact that they block sites at all. Indeed, users in at least some other parts of the country were able to access Facebook Tuesday, even as some in Beijing couldn’t.

I love chomping down on yang rou chuan'r, but I'm never certain exactly where it comes from. For most other foods, I've just accepted that if they're sold in a clean(-ish)supermarket, they must be decently safe. Now, my "decently safe" scale has a number. Recent government findings showed that only 80% of the food and other products checked by regulators met national safety standards. This figure is actually a 2% improvement from last year. Wow, China's "FDA" is really swinging for the fences.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States added farm-raised fish and shrimp to a growing list of Chinese products deemed unsafe for US consumers, regulators said Thursday.

The US Food and Drug Administration said it would block the import of farmed Chinese seafood until importers could prove the shipments were free of unsafe contaminants.

The move comes just days after lawmakers urged a recall of up to 450,000 Chinese tires because of safety defects and weeks after thousands of cats and dogs died because of tainted Chinese pet food.

The rule of law increasing through mass public participation? And not triggered by the party or a few activist lawyers? Sounds like a dream. But apparently, it’s happening. What happens in China when you can’t get your own lawyer to fight your cause? Learn the law yourself.