Among the changes most directly affecting people’s daily lives are the new national health and family planning commission, and the general administration of Food and Drugs. One of the drafters of the State Council restructuring proposal, Wang Feng, has been explaining what’s behind the reform.

"The process of production is now supervised by the quality supervision department. However, who will supervise the circulation process? That’s the industrial and commercial departments. Then comes the consumption. The public need to consume at restaurants and hotels. And it’s up to the State Administration of Food and Drug. And to make things easier, we have to establish the office of Food Safety Commission," said Wang.

Wang Feng says the public is very concerned about food safety, as well as requirements on the safety and effectiveness of drugs.

The existing systems have loopholes, which make it difficult to pin down responsibility.

Wang Feng said, "Putting the scattered personnel together will strengthen our overall performance. This reform, on the one hand, comes from the concerns of the public, and on the other hand, from our incessant research, exploration, and practice over the years. And we feel it’s imperative for us to carry out the reform. So we made the decision. We are confident that the reform will turn out to be very effective, for it was based on extensive consensus. And I believe that we have made a big step forward in terms of supervision of food safety."

As for the newly established national health and family planning commission, Wang says China still needs to maintain a low birth rate, but the focus will be on pre-natal and post-natal care. Medical and hygiene service also need to be improved. This will be easier to achieve by merging the existing Health Ministry with the National Population and Family Planning Commission.