China to step up monitoring of baby milk powder

China's food safety watchdog says it will increase its scrutiny of baby milk powder after a contamination scare at New Zealand's Fonterra.

The China Food and Drug Administration says it will severely punish companies found to have slack safety or quality standards.

The body is telling firms to improve management and supervision. 

Foreign branded milk powder has been highly popular in China as it is viewed as more reliable and of higher quality. 

Breast feeding is not popular in China where powdered milk, particularly foreign powdered milk, is seen as superior.

The market is highly lucrative. Overseas brands are sometimes twice the price of local formula, and the size of the market is expected to double to $25bn by 2015, according to market watchers Euromonitor.