BEIJING — Chinese authorities have launched a national food safety campaign, requiring the "strictest" supervision over the food sector and the "harshest" penalties for violations.

The crackdown, which runs from September 2019 to December 2020, was initiated by the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) in collaboration with the State Administration for Market Regulation and the National Medical Products Administration.

The campaign will target food safety in areas including schools, food wholesale markets and cold storage logistics centers, and focus on cases involving medicines, food for infants and children and food sold on the internet, e-commerce platforms and social media, said the SPP at a news conference.