VZCZCXRO0099
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHBJ #6676/01 2882234
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 152234Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY BEIJING
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2815
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/DEPT OF HOMELAND SECURITY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RULSDMK/DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHDC
RUEAWJA/DEPT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEAEPA/HQ EPA WASHDC
RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BEIJING 006676 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE SIPDIS 
 
EAP/PD FOR NIDA EMMONS 
EAP/CM/ 
HHS FOR OGHA/STEIGER AND PASS TO FDA/LUMPKIN 
USDA FOR FSIS/RAYMOND 
USDA FOR FAS OA/YOST, OCRA/ALEXANDER, OSTA/BRANT AND SHNITZLER 
COMMERCE FOR ITA/HIJIKATA AND CINO 
STATE PASS USTR CHINA OFFICE/TIM WINELAND 
STATE PASS OMB/INT'L AFFAIRS 
STATE PASS HOMELAND SECURITY COUNCIL 
STATE PASS IMPORT SAFETY WORKING GROUP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO EAGR ETRD ECON PREL HHS CH
SUBJECT: U.S. FDA COMMISSIONER MEETS WITH CHINESE COUNTERPARTS IN 
SHANGHAI, OCTOBER 10-14, 2007. 
 
REF: A) State 140228 
 B) State 86437 
 C) Beijing 6265 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 
Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner traveled to Shanghai October 
10-14 to deliver one of the keynote speeches at the Fifth Annual 
Sino-U.S Symposiu on Medicine in th Twenty-First Century and to 
participate in the centennial anniversary celebration of Jiaotong 
University's Ruijin Hospital.  The delegation also held meetings 
with State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) Commissioner Shao 
Mingli and Vice Commissioner Qu Shuhui, General Administration for 
Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) Vice Minister 
Wei Chuanzhong; and Ministry of Health (MOH) Minister Chen Zhu 
regarding the two Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) on food and feed 
safety and on drug and medical product safety. Both SFDA and AQSIQ 
committed to sending their respective technical teams to Washington 
this month to continue these MOA discussions face-to-face.  Both the 
U.S. and Chinese officials reaffirmed their commitment to working on 
the agreements and emphasized the importance their governments place 
on the safety of food, feed, drug and medical products for the 
citizens of both countries.  The Shanghai visit enabled the FDA 
Commissioner to engage municipal-level FDA and CIQ (Entry-Exit 
Inspection and Quarantine Bureau) officials facilitating 
opportunities for exchanges on procedures and process at these 
levels and offered them a glimpse of laboratories and port 
inspection facilities.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, and FDA 
Deputy Commissioner Dr. Murray Lumpkin traveled to Shanghai October 
10-14 to meet with each of the three Chinese agencies or Ministries 
responsible for the on-going MOA negotiations on food/feed and drug/ 
medical product safety. 
 
Shanghai FDA Meetings and Site Visits 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) Visiting the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration (SHFDA) 
and its Institute for Food and Drug Control (SIFDC), Commissioner 
von Eschenbach learned about the responsibilities and functions of 
this municipal-level FDA office and its relationships with the 
national-level SFDA. Introducing the SHFDA as the largest of the 31 
provincial and municipal-level FDA, Director-General Dr. Wang 
Longxing provided an overview on its structure, described the SHFDA 
responsibilities, and outlined the process and testing methodologies 
used in the regulation and control of food and drug producers and 
manufacturers in the Shanghai area.  SIFDC Director Dr. Wang Linda 
outlined the systems used for food and drug supervision and 
administration, focusing on the testing capabilities and procedures 
used as well as the Institute's research and development activities. 
 Commissioner von Eschenbach and his delegation toured several 
laboratories in the Institute. 
 
¶4. (SBU) In a meeting on the drug/medical devices MOA, Vice 
Commissioner Madam Qu Shuhui, the Chinese side's lead negotiator, 
expressed appreciation for Commissioner von Eschenbach's visit to 
Shanghai and acknowledged that since their June 15 phone call (Ref 
B) there had been three rounds of discussions and two rounds of 
document exchanges leading to this meeting. She reaffirmed SFDA's 
commitment and in recognition of the pressures and challenges of 
globalization, to work collaboratively with the United States FDA. 
Madam Qu noted increased communications and collaboration between 
the two agencies illustrated the importance of the agreement.  U.S. 
and Chinese sides expressed mutual appreciation for the earlier 
joint efforts of the technical teams to achieve agreement on the 
broad principles of the MOA and to help realize their differences 
and conflicts yet to be resolved. 
 
 
BEIJING 00006676  002 OF 004 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Commissioner von Eschenbach emphasized his desire to see 
the two agencies build stronger and closer collaborative 
relationships that would facilitate addressing a variety of 
challenges.  He noted that working together may allow more 
opportunities to evolve, such as developing mechanisms to share drug 
and medical product information and to build capacities that would 
focus quality improvements on prevention throughout a drug or 
medical product's lifecycle rather than on inspections at the 
end-stage.   Dr. von Eschenbach reiterated FDA's invitation for the 
SFDA to travel to Washington soon to have further face-to-face 
discussions on the MOA specifically responding to the second-version 
sent to the Chinese on September 28.  SFDA replied that they would 
indeed travel to DC the week of October 22 and would provide their 
written comments on the second-version of the MOA o/a October 17. 
Both sides also noted that the expected signing of the MOA at SED 
III will establish a strong foundation for on-going relationships 
between their agencies to continue to evolve and would protect and 
promote the health of their own citizens, further making drug and 
medical products safer for the rest of the world. 
 
Meeting with Health Minister Chen Zhu 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) (SBU) Commissioner von Eschenbach in his official bilateral 
meeting with Health Minister Dr. Chen Zhu said he observed from the 
morning's presentations that both sides shared similar visions to 
use science and technical knowledge to address global problems.  HHS 
and the MOH already collaborate on many health issues. He 
congratulated the Minister on his being recently being named a 
member of the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of 
Sciences.  The Commissioner also noted that, through these 
collaborations in health, both of them were responsible to manage 
the increasing expectations to bring new solutions and safe and 
effective interventions to their citizens as quickly as possible. 
These expectations would be facilitated through increased 
information exchange and closer cooperation between their agencies. 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Minister Chen said he was looking forward to December's 
Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) in Beijing.  He also highlighted 
the beneficial role of the existing MOU's (on HIV/AIDS and on 
emerging infectious diseases) between his Ministry and HHS.  The 
Chinese government pays great attention to food safety, he 
explained, and throughout history always saved the best products 
(i.e., highest quality) for export, sometimes to the exclusion of 
the Chinese people.  However, even though less than one percent of 
all food exports had problems, those products need attention; the 
volume of trade means that the impact of this small percentage could 
still be significant. [CommQt: Interestingly in most other 
interactions with the Chinese, this figure is presented to mean that 
over 99 percent of food exports are compliant, meaning they pass 
Chinese standards for export.  This time, the Minister's comment is 
focused on the small percent that does not pass quality inspection 
standards.  End comment.]  Minister Chen recounted the Ministry's 
many roles in food safety, highlighting its growing engagements with 
international and multilateral coordination (e.g., with WHO, FAO, 
and the Codex Alimentaris). 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Minister Chen referenced the new leading group on food and 
product quality led by Vice Premier Wu Yi.  China's priority task 
was to enact new regulations and laws so that the legal environment 
for food/product safety would be complete.  There also needed to be 
further clarity about the responsibilities among the various Chinese 
government agencies charged with food and product safety.  At a 
State Council meeting, Chen said that Premier Wen Jiabao had stated 
clearly that offenders should be punished.  Within the Ministry of 
Health, Chen said he had four priorities with respect to food 
safety:  (1) intensify market rectification; (2) strengthen the 
supervision/examination system; (3) strengthen risk assessment and 
 
BEIJING 00006676  003 OF 004 
 
 
reporting and precautionary (or prevention)systems; and (4) 
establish better standards for food safety. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Minister Chen further indicated his desire to work more 
closely with and to learn from the FDA in the areas of risk 
evaluation, risk management and risk assessment.  He expressed 
appreciation for FDA's alert about shipments of contaminated U.S. 
peanut butter to China.  He praised the FDA's transparent approach 
and commitment to protecting consumers.  Echoing comments that each 
had made in their morning speeches at the Symposium, the two 
officials noted and agreed that another area for future 
collaboration (beyond the current food and drug safety issues) was 
in the research and development of new drugs and conducting clinical 
trials.  Minister Chen also welcomed additional U.S. efforts on 
capacity building.  He also noted that the Chinese media could play 
a positive role in publicizing food safety problems. 
 
Lunch with AQSIQ Vice Minister Wei Chuanzhong 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  (SBU)  In the lunch meeting, AQSIQ Vice Minister Wei Chuanzhong 
acknowledged that he and Commissioner were old friends through 
correspondence and that the recent discussions between their 
technical teams was similarly bringing their agencies closer through 
ongoing dialogues, information sharing, improved understanding and 
mutual benefits.  VM Wei continued by expressing appreciation for 
the practical and sincere attitudes of the FDA in the food and feed 
safety discussions where consensus on the main points had already 
been reached.  Promising to provide written feedback next week, VM 
Wei pledged to try and convince the technical teams to travel to 
Washington the last week of October.  The Vice Minister also 
indicated that AQSIQ would bring with them on that trip the next 
batch of information (further data on 15-20 different farm-raising 
firms) to clear Chinese aquaculture firms from the current detention 
order.  Commissioner von Eschenbach responded by expressing 
appreciation for the AQSIQ commitment in working towards their 
common goals of assuring that products are of highest quality and 
that the MOA, once signed, will serve as a strong foundation upon 
which both sides can build capacities, address challenges, and learn 
from each other. 
 
Visit to Shanghai Port 
---------------------- 
 
¶11.  (U) A visit the Weigaoqiao Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine 
bureau (CIQ) facility offered a glimpse of testing procedures for 
food safety, demonstrated using a recent arrival of chicken legs. 
During this tour, the Commissioner indicated to CIQ hosts Shanghai 
CIQ Deputy Director-General Xu Chaoje, and Weigaoqiao CIQ Director 
Dong Chao that the receiving and laboratory inspection facilities as 
well as the container terminals compared favorably to the 
Commissioner's recent visits to similar facilities in the United 
States [Comment: CIQ hosts indicated that Shanghai is the largest 
port in China, and that last year the Weigaoqiao facilities 
processed 28,800 ships, over 110 million tons or 21 percent of 
Shanghai's volume.] 
 
 
Commissioner's Keynote Speech 
----------------------------- 
 
¶12.  (U) Commissioner von Eschenbach's and Health Minister Chen's 
keynote speeches contained forward-looking acknowledgements of the 
rapid bio-medical developments occurring; acknowledgements of the 
epidemiological shifts in the types of diseases being faced today 
(fewer communicable and more chronic); and positive assessments of 
the valuable contributions arising from Sino-U.S. scientific 
exchanges.  Both leaders noted their agencies' efforts to move 
toward early detection and prevention intervention of diseases. 
 
BEIJING 00006676  004 OF 004 
 
 
Minister Chen highlighted China's efforts to deliver, and health 
care for the rural population in the medium and long-term. Advances 
in science and technology serve as change-agents to facilitate 
delivery methodologies and knowledge.  The Commissioner's talk 
similarly acknowledged the rapid changes of science and technology 
but emphasized a need for both of our countries to focus on the ties 
that bind us together, uniting the people of the world to fight the 
common enemy of disease using new interventions and therapeutic 
agents as well as sharing information.  Both speakers referenced how 
health care is changing and how it needs to incorporate the "four 
P's" (personalization, predictability; pre-emptive or 
prevention-focused; participation) to be more effective. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) Commissioner von Eschenbach engaged Minister Chen on 
several occasions, and the two spoke easily together in English and 
as scientific colleagues with a high degree of mutual respect and 
friendliness readily apparent.  Their dialogues covered a wide-range 
of topics including the Minister's research in leukemia and the 
differences in his responsibilities from a hospital-based (Ruijin 
Hospital) researcher to now serving as the new Minister of Health. 
Minister Chen even introduced the Commissioner to his parents during 
the Symposium dinner banquet as the culmination of his story about 
his decisions to become a doctor and relating experiences of his 
early career during and immediately after the Cultural Revolution. 
Highlighting the difference between these informal interactions and 
the other formal meetings, Minister Chen before their formal 
bilateral meeting quietly and apologetically said to Commissioner 
von Eschenbach in English that, since this was a government meeting, 
he would have to speak in Chinese. 
 
¶14. (SBU) The Commissioner's interactions with SFDA Commissioner 
Shao Mingli were characterized by a high-level of mutual 
friendliness and respect that had clearly developed over the past 
year since the FDA centennial celebration which Shao attended. 
Noting that he was but the second SFDA Commissioner (compared to Dr. 
von Eschenbach being the 20th FDA Commissioner) Commissioner Shao 
indicated he hoped that he could learn from their relationship and 
that SFDA could benefit more from the budding collaboration and 
cooperation evolving between their agencies. Madam Qu, as she had 
done in July in Washington, provided frank and open assessments on 
the relationships between the agencies and the MOA document.  While 
not as warm an encounter as with the SFDA Commissioner Shao, Madam 
Qu and Commissioner von Eschenbach talked easily, sharing 
experiences and looking forward to on-going discussions between the 
technical teams as well as closer relationships between their 
agencies. 
 
¶16. (SBU) The meeting with AQSIQ VW Wei over a short lunch still 
demonstrated that both the Commissioner and Wei were confidant and 
comfortable letting their staff (technical teams) work out the 
details of the MOA language in the up-coming negotiations.  Despite 
only meeting face-to-face once before, they were relaxed and 
comfortably talked about personal things like their home towns and 
professional experiences leading up to their current positions. 
They were at ease sharing the developing and improving collaboration 
between AQSIQ and FDA as they each reaffirmed to one another the 
benefits of increased product safety that would accrue for their 
citizens and their governments. 
 
RANDT