Ralf Scheller, president and CEO of TUV Rheinland Greater China, and Shen Baowei, General Manager of China Certification & Inspection Group Shandong Co Ltd.

A newly established Food Demo Laboratory in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, will help improve the food and certification industries in China.

The laboratory, jointly established by TÜV Rheinland, a German independent third-party testing, inspection and certification company, and China Certification and Inspection Group (CCIC), will provide customized consultations on the food safety in compliance with international standards.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the turnover of China's food industry in 2010 exceeded 1 trillion yuan ($157 billion) and exports amounted to 320 billion yuan ($50.24 billion) at an annual growth rate of 25 percent.

However, the prosperity in the production value couldn't prevent the enterprises' image in the world being lowered due to several food safety incidents, which put the enterprises at a disadvantage in the fierce international competition.

TÜV Rheinland/CCIC (Qingdao), a joint venture invested by TÜV Rheinland and CCIC in 2001, offers local testing and inspection services for Shandong province.

The joint venture's "alternative technology" of self-quality-control laboratory services can help develop the self-testing and quality control abilities in food manufacturing and processing companies and reduce the possibility of food recall incidents and their associated losses.

With ten years' successful cooperative partnership, CCIC's president Meng Qingfa were full of confidence, "Both parties believe that our cooperation will continue to improve China's manufacturing industries and enhance their self-innovation, and thus gain a competitive and solid capability in the market."