China will legislate or update more than 7,700 national standards for the safety of food, drugs and other consumer goods this year, as part of the efforts to ensure product quality and safety, Premier Wen Jiabao said yesterday.

"It is imperative that the people feel confident about the safety of food and other consumer goods and that our exports have a good reputation," said Wen when delivering a report on the work of his Cabinet at the opening meeting of the annual full session of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature.

While stressing that the formulation and updating is meant to put in place a sound system of standards for product safety, the premier promised that all requirements and testing methods for the safety and quality of food and other consumer goods will "comply with international standards."

"China's exports will meet both international standards and the laws and regulations on technical standards of the importing countries," he told nearly 3,000 national legislators and more than 2,000 political advisors at the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing.

Chinese industries have come under the spotlight of domestic and foreign consumers in recent years with concerns about substandard products or tainted food which has sometimes led to international disputes, poisoning or even deaths. Food-related incidents included vegetables with pesticide residue, fish contaminated with suspected carcinogens and eggs tainted with the industrial dye Sudan Red.

"China should stipulate stricter criteria for market access and ban the illegal operation of small workshops," said Zhu Yicai, an NPC deputy and chairman of the board of the Yurun Group, a well-known sausage producer in eastern China's Jiangsu Province.

Another NPC deputy Zong Qinghou appealed for the speeding up of legislation on food safety.

"China should improve the legal system in this respect and crack down on lawbreakers more severely," said Zong, the board chairman and general manager of beverage giant Wahaha Group.

In yesterday's report, the premier responded to the calls of legislators and the public by pledging to "increase punishment on enterprises that violate laws and regulations pertaining to product quality and safety and to improve the oversight and control systems" in this regard.

"We will raise the requirements for production permits and tighten market access for products related to people's health and safety ... and strictly control the quality of exports and imports," he said.

To address food safety issues, the Chinese government launched a four-month nationwide campaign in August last year to crack down on unlicensed food shops and suppliers.