CRI听力:Restriction on Baby Formula Advertising Receives Mixed Reactions

The new amendment stipulates that "Dairy products, drinks and other food advertisements that claim to be partial or complete substitutes for mother's milk shall be banned from the mass media or public venues".

The move has been welcomed by people who champion breastfeeding as the best source of nutrition for newborns, as breastfeeding improves babies' immune systems and reduces the likelihood of obesity in adulthood.

Statistics show that less than one third of infants younger than six months were 100 percent breastfed in China in 2008.

And the number is declining.

In order to reverse this situation, the Chinese government has set a goal to raise the number of babies to 50 percent by 2020.

And it has introduced measures to encourage breast feeding, such as building dedicated rooms in public venues for new mothers.

Hospitals are also encouraging new mothers to feed their babies themselves.

Tang Zheng is with the International Peace Maternity & Child Health Hospital.

"In our hospital, unless the mothers need medication or a baby needs treatment, we encourage new mothers to breastfeed their babies as soon as possible. 90 percent of the mothers in our hospital breastfeed their babies."

China enacted a law to prohibit the advertisement and promotion of breast milk substitutes twenty years ago. However, its enforcement lacks teeth as the punishment is limited to warnings, confiscation or small fines.

This time, the maximum fine for a violation amounts to one million yuan, which is over 160-thousand US dollars.

However, Zhang Dianyuan, a professor at Fudan University's School of Journalism says the new regulation may not be strictly enforced:

"The big dairy companies may not be able to change the law, they could use their big public relations influence to avoid punishment. For medium and small companies, the penalty for violating the rule is very low, and they can make a lot of money by violating it."

What professor Zhang says is based on China's baby formula market.

China has about 16 million new-borns every year and the baby formula market is worth 18 billion yuan.

Many companies are prepared to take the risk of being fined to make profits in this enormous market.

Meanwhile, some mothers say they will still buy formula products, as they are not really affected by advertising. Their knowledge about baby formula products mostly comes from friends and peers.

" The ads for baby formula products won't affect me. I talk to my friends and then decide whether to use milk powder."

"My friends and I share our experiences with formula milk. I've also looked for some information online."

The change in the law only restricts ads in the mass media, but there is not a clear definition of just what that phrase means.

And an increasing number of formula products are using new marketing techniques, employing new media and peer to peer marketing.

For CRI, I'm Tu Yun.