China to raise medical industry standards

The State Council, or China's Cabinet, has worked out a five-year plan (2011-2015) to raise standards and improve quality in the medicinal sector, including Western medicines, traditional Chinese medicine, and generic drug products. Meanwhile, standards for medical equipment and apparatuses will also be raised, according to the government plan issued amid public concerns and complaints about the quality of medicinal products in the country. Efforts to raise standards and improve quality will be based on the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China, the country's official compendium of drugs and pharmaceutical drug specifications, it says. According to the plan, the government will raise standards on 2,500 chemical drugs, 2,800 ready-made Chinese traditional drugs, 200 biological pharmaceutical products, as well as 350 kinds of Chinese medicinal herbs and 650 Chinese medicinal components by 2015. Furthermore, the government plans to reinforce local medicinal quality-monitoring networks at the municipal and county levels, while making greater efforts to crack down on counterfeit pharmaceutical products. By 2015, all chemical and biological drugs should meet or approach international standards, and China will play a guiding role in developing international standards for the production of traditional Chinese medicine. In the meantime, 90 percent of medical equipment and apparatuses should meet international standards, and the production of pharmaceutics, equipment and apparatuses, as well as the operation of pharmacies should meet relevant national standards published in 2010.