The State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) announced on Jan. 15 that health foods can claim to “help maintain bone and joint health (有助于维持骨关节健康)”, adding that the claim has been allowed since Jan. 1, 2026.
Aside from the primary claim of “helps support maintain joint health”, the SAMR has also approved the secondary claims of “alleviate pain or stiffness (缓解疼痛或僵硬)” and “alleviate joint cartilage damage (缓解软骨损伤)”.
Products must make the primary claim and can choose to make either or both of the secondary claims.
This development came after the SAMR conducted a public consultation from April to June 2025. Prior to this announcement, products making bone and joint health claims could be sold in China; however, they could only enter the market via cross-border e-commerce and could not be sold inland. Health foods sold within Mainland China must be approved by the SAMR and approved products will be labeled with a blue-hat logo on its packaging.
Following SAMR’s approval, the claims are now listed in the “Directory of Health Functions Available to be Claimed by Health Food - Non-nutrition Supplements (允许保健食品声称的保健功能 非营养素补充剂).”
With this, there are now 25 approved claims listed in the Directory. Other approved claims include “helps strengthen immunity” and “helps support antioxidation.”
Products making claims listed in this Directory can use ingredients not stated in any pre-determined ingredient list. However, manufacturers should prove to the SAMR the ingredient’s effectiveness in relation to the claim made using evidence from animal or human studies.
As such, the SAMR also released a set of technical guidelines around animal testing and human clinical trials.
China also has another list of health claims known as the “Health Function Directory of Allowing Nutrition Supplement Claims”. However, the active ingredients used in relation to the claims have to come from a specific list pre-approved by the SAMR.
Examples include soy protein isolate and whey protein, which can make the claim “strengthening immunity”.
Healthy aging and active lifestyle fueling demand
The SAMR noted that there has been an increasing demand for health foods supporting bone and joint health due to an aging population and more people leading an active lifestyle.
The release of guidelines for health foods making claims around bone and joint maintenance is meant to cater to consumer needs, as well as help companies develop relevant products that reduce the risk of bone and joint diseases from happening.
“As the trend of an aging population continues in the country, alongside a growing awareness of exercise and fitness among the public, consumers are placing greater emphasis on efforts to prevent the risk of bone and joint damage, leading to an increasingly strong demand for health foods that maintain and improve bone and joint health,” the SAMR said in a statement.
Technical guidelines
Regulatory consultancy CIRS Hangzhou noted that the technical guidelines released by the SAMR have listed the general principles and recommendations for animal and human studies. However, it noted that the regulator has yet to release details on testing and evaluation methods.
As such, companies would need to propose specific evaluation methods to show the efficacy of the product. The methods proposed would need to follow the “Detailed Rules for Technical Review of New Functions and Products of Health Food (Trial)” released in August 2023.
The consultancy also noted that evidence from human clinical trials is required to make the health claims.
Companies can be exempted from conducting animal studies if 1) their products contain excipients widely used in products already approved by the SAMR, or 2) their product formulation and dosage amounts are backed by sufficient scientific evidence.
However, this only applied to products making the secondary claim of “alleviating pain or stiffness”. Those claiming to “alleviate joint cartilage damage“ would still need to conduct animal studies.
