SHANGHAI, Jul 12 -- CHINA will begin a daily food safety reporting system next month during test events for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, to reassure the world that it is serious about cracking down on unsafe practices.

The system will be put in place August 8 in Beijing, where a series of 11 trials will be held for Olympic organizers to assess their transportation systems, technologies and logistics. The date marks exactly one year until the games begin, The Associated Press reported.

Monitoring will start from the origin of production and continue through processing, packaging, transportation and distribution, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said.

"There will be continuous supervision," the quality watchdog said on its Website today.

The reports, which would include details of any food safety accidents, will be overseen by the Beijing Municipal Food Safety Office.

China has taken significant steps in recent days to clean up its dubious product safety record, including executing the former head of its drug regulation agency for taking bribes, and banning the use of a chemical found in antifreeze in the production of toothpaste.

This week, officials have vowed that the Beijing Games, a source of tremendous national pride, will be part of the crackdown on unsafe food.

Sun Wenxu, an official with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, told reporters that athletes, coaches, officials and others can be assured of safe meals.

Organizers are also taking measures to ensure athletes' food is free of substances that could trigger a positive result in tests for banned performance-enhancing drugs.

Late yesterday, China banned toothpaste manufacturers from using diethylene glycol, or DEG, which can cause kidney failure, paralysis and death, but has been used as a low-cost substitute for harmless glycerin, a sweetener in many drugs.

The State Food and Drug Administration announced stricter rules for approving new medicines yesterday, a day after the agency's former head, Zheng Xiaoyu, was executed for taking bribes and gifts in exchange for letting substandard and fake products onto the domestic market. One, an antibiotic, has been blamed for at least 10 deaths.

Starting October 1, the drug registration and approval process will be made transparent to curb power abuse and corruption, Wu Zhen, the agency's deputy chief, told reporters.

A special panel will approve new drugs instead of a single person or department, and local watchdogs will be authorized to conduct preliminary approval procedures, unlike before, when power was centralized, Wu said.

"Transparency is the enemy of corruption," he was quoted as saying.

Companies which provide false information or samples will not be allowed to apply for drug approval for up to three years, and the administration will make surprise spot checks on drug producers, he said.