Better Food Markets for Better Hygiene

Jun 27-2020   

Two major outbreaks of the COVID-19 on the Chinese mainland have both occurred in wet markets: the first one in a seafood wholesale market in Wuhan in December 2019, and the other in another seafood market, part of Beijing Xinfadi agricultural wholesale market, in early June 2020. This is not a coincidence, argues NSD Associate Researcher Zheng Shilin in a commentary for Netease Caijing, a news portal.

The two incidences have laid bare the fact that grocery markets constitute the shortest planks in overall hygienic conditions and thus a breeding ground for the virus. Consequently, Prof. Zheng advises speeding up the infrastructure construction of such markets, which will not only play a role in stimulating the economy after the pandemic, but also improve hygienic conditions of the markets and better the welfare of the residents.

His first recommendation is for local governments to immediately inspect all grocery markets – in particular seafood markets - and weed out all hygienic blind spots. Sampling and quarantine measures should be conducted on a regular basis. Secondly, planning should be made scientifically for the infrastructure construction of some new-type grocery markets with good layout. Demographics should be incorporated into the planning process with an eye on reducing over-density of such markets in certain areas. Thirdly, as grocery markets are public goods, the government can opt to make direct investments or leverage PPP, BOT and other measures such as partial subsidy and tax reduction, so as to improve the overall level of the markets. Fourthly, it’s high time that local governments strengthen the management of the markets, including mandatory vocational trainings and health checks.