MANILA, July 17 (Xinhuanet) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has agreed to provide a 500,000-US-dollar technical assistance (TA) grant to strengthen national public nutrition planning in China, the bank said in a statement released on Thursday.

　　The project will be undertaken in partnership with the United Nations Children's Fund. Its objectives include capacity building for planning and carrying out nutrition strategies and policies.

　　The project will also help China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) to mobilize a national coalition and build stake-holder consensus on improving nutrition, and set a sound direction for public-private partnerships to help the country achieve self-sufficiency and eventually be able to export high-quality fortified foods.

　　"Recent estimates show that diet-related chronic diseases cost China's economy roughly 3 percent of the gross national product," says ADB Project Economist Christopher Spohr, "Arguably, such losses are outstripped by the human costs of under-nutrition amongthe country's poor, and the broader implications for social development."

　　In China, the reduction of child malnutrition and maternal mortality has lagged behind progress in other human development indicators. An inadequate intake of nutrients can cause long-lasting damage, resulting in a higher risk of early death and a decrease in a child's weight, height and educational attainment.

　　The TA, which emphasizes the needs of the poor, will support study and dialogue leading to policy recommendations for the country's 2006-2010 development plan. The NDRC is the executing agency for the TA, which will be implemented from July 2003 through December 2004. Enditem