Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi on Thursday pressed for grassroots efforts to improve product quality and food safety.

The grassroots level has a vital role to play in the nationwide campaign against substandard products, said Wu during a tour of small restaurants and food makers in Shanghai and east China's Zhejiang Province.

The campaign launched last month had got off to a good start, with most regions and departments quickly going into action, said Wu.

"The campaign aims to set up a supervision chain covering the whole production process of industrial products and food" so that all problems could be traced to their origins, said Wu.

"Heads of the local governments must go down to the grassroots to overhaul every link in the production chain, while the masses should be motivated to be concerned about product quality," said Wu.

The campaign should mainly target production bases, processing firms, small manufactures and restaurants, said Wu, adding all stores and restaurants must ask suppliers to show quality and origin certificates for all products.

Wu said the campaign should facilitate restructuring of the food processing industry and help extend modern logistics services to the countryside.

(Xinhua News Agency September 28, 2007)