On October 17, the first functional food and nutritional wellness summit was hosted by Jiangnan University, and organized by the National Engineering Research Center for Functional Food of Jiangnan University, the National Market Regulation Technology Innovation Center for Special Food) (under construction), and the Affiliated Hospital of Jiangnan University in the Taihu International Expo Center, Wuxi.

Zhu Qingbao, Party Secretary of Jiangnan University, Gao Yaguang, Deputy Mayor of Wuxi Municipal People’s Government, and Zhou Shiping, Director-General of the Special Food Safety Regulation Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation, attended the opening ceremony of the summit and delivered speeches. Also present at the summit were some leading officials of the State Administration for Market Regulation and relevant departments of Wuxi Municipal People’s Government, as well as representatives of leaders and experts of the China Nutrition and Health Food Association and domestic universities and colleges, scientific research institutes and leading enterprises in the industry. The summit was chaired by Chen Wei, Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, President of Jiangnan University, and Director-General of the National Engineering Research Center for Functional Food.

During his welcome speech, Zhu Qingbao pointed out that in the first year of the "14th Five-Year Plan", holding high-level seminars on functional foods and nutritional wellness was not only an important measure to promote the development of the health industry, but also a basic guarantee to meet the people's needs for a better life and to improve people’s health standards. Adhering to the principle of "prioritizing people's life and health", Jiangnan University gave full play to its experiences and advantages in the field of food science to tackle key problems in industry development, interdisciplinary learning, and integration of production and research, with the aim of further promoting the implementation of the "Healthy China" strategy and providing more food and new choices for the health of the people.

Gao Yaguang congratulated the opening of the summit in her speech and said that Wuxi endeavored to become the highland of China’s special food industry with a firm determination derived from Wuxi’s strong industrial foundation, high-quality platform services, and top-notch university support. She hoped that the guests could bring more cutting-edge concepts, the latest technologies, and development resources to Wuxi, and join hands with Wuxi to create a bright future for the development of the special food industry!

Zhou Shiping commented that the special food industry had made considerable development progress in China, and would usher in an important period of development opportunities with the continuous development of China's economy and society and the gradual improvement of people's living standards. Enterprises were the main driving forces for the development of the special food industry, and the strong support of and participation by universities, scientific research institutions, and technical organizations in the industry were also indispensable. He emphasized that joint efforts were needed to boost technological innovation, promote the healthy development of the industry and meet the needs of the people for a better life.

The summit was divided into five sessions. 16 influential academicians and well-known experts and scholars from the field of functional food and nutritional wellness, including Tong Xiaolin, Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, delivered reports at the summit which were centered on industry development trends, high-efficiency biological manufacturing, development of nutritional and healthy food, precision nutrition research, key technologies and industrialization, and shared insights into policies and regulations, latest academic achievements and engineering innovations in the field of functional food and nutritional wellness.

The National Engineering Research Center for Functional Food of Jiangnan University is currently the sole national-level platform centered on the research of functional food, which has formed certain characteristics and advantages in research and transformation of some areas, such as the research and development of probiotics and microecological preparations, the development of raw materials of functional food and functional factors, the evaluation and risk control of healthy food functions, and the research and development of special diet food. The holding of this summit would further explore frontier areas, consolidate industry consensus, gather industry resources, and promote the high-quality and sustainable development of China's nutritional and healthy food industry.

Group Photo of VIP Guests of the Summit