China's health foods market is small compared to developed nations but it is set to grow rapidly with government encouragement and rising incomes. Currently, the annual output of China's nutrition food industry is worth CNY120 billion compared to about U$180 billion on a global level. However, it is expected to achieve a growth rate of around 15 per cent in the next five years.

Chinese people spent an average U$11.53 on health foods each year, 20 times lower than the typical spend in Japan, and a sixth of the average European consumer's annual purchases.

There are a lot of problems related to malnutrition in the countryside and unbalanced nutrition in the city. Diseases caused by these problems have triggered a great financial loss every year, equivalent to 2.5 per cent of GDP.

Nutritional supplements and nutrient-enriched foods currently make up much of the health foods market. There is a large demand for the whole-nutrient food which contains a lot of the necessary vitamins and minerals, especially for children and pregnant women. Currently in China there aren't many companies producing this kind of food.