China enacts myopia prevention measures

The Chinese government has created a set of mandatory national standards for myopia prevention that create minimum requirements for school supplies.

A World Health Organization World Report on Vision released last year found that nearly 60% of children and over 90% of teenagers have myopic vision in China. A Chinese Ministry of Education survey also found that rates of myopia rose 15.2%, 8.2% and 3.8% for primary, middle and high school students from the end of 2019 to the first half of 2020.

The government’s new standards, which the State Administration for Market regulation said would prevent and control myopia, required minimum font sizes in textbooks, with clear printing also necessitated.