Adhering to the scientific principles of evidence-based nutrition and risk assessment, the Chinese Nutrition Society organized about 100 experts of nutrition science to retrieve, screen, and compile a vast amount of nutritional research data from both domestic and international sources over the past decade. After three years of work, Dietary Reference Intakes for China (2023) was officially released.

The new edition of DRIs is based on four fundamental principles: scientific rigor, continuity, specificity, and purpose. It revises and confirms specific reference intakes for more than 70 nutrients and other dietary components. The 2023 edition has improved and refined the concepts and procedures for establishing DRI values. It has established and revised essential baseline reference values for the Chinese population regarding age groupings, representative weights, and reference values for breast milk composition. It incorporates new research findings from the past decade, both domestically and internationally, on the functions, assessments, requirements, safety, and prevention of chronic diseases related to nutrients and other dietary components. Furthermore, it includes a greater number of studies focusing on Chinese residents. In terms of its structural framework and format, the publication more prominently emphasizes its position as a numerical-centric reference tool. 

The primary applications of DRIs are concentrated in the field of public nutrition, such as the assessment of human nutritional status, nutritional guidance, dietary design, and nutritional improvement. They are also widely used in the formulation of national nutrition and health policies, clinical nutrition, the establishment of food nutrition standards, and the research and development of nutritional food products.