Objective National food safety standards project is the foundation of national food safety standards system. By studying the current characteristics of the national food safety national standards project mechanism, the suggestions and advice for the management of national food safety standards were provided. Methods All national food safety standards project proposals from 2011 to 2016 have been sorted and compared with actual annual planning collected from Secretariat of National Food Safety Standards Review Committee. Results Among the proposals and projects, about 90% proposals failed to be brought into the annual project for reasons including not meeting the principle, not being of priority and inadequate financial support. Meanwhile, the current working mechanism laid a good foundation for perfecting the system of national food safety standards. Conclusion To strengthen the national food safety standards project, the suggestions included addressing food safety issue, better food safety risk surveillance and risk assessment, and capacity building on responsible institutions.