Singapore, April 29, 2008: Mr Shao Mingli, Commissioner of the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) in China, met the US visiting delegation to China headed by Mr Christopher A. Padilla, US Under Secretary of Commerce. The two sides talked about issues concerning the supervision of drugs and medical devices.

 

Mr Shao Mingli said that the Chinese government would strengthen its approval and supervision of drugs and medical devices in accordance with relevant laws and regulations and would continue to strengthen the protection for pharmaceutical intellectual property rights.

 

He emphasized that each country shall be responsible for strengthening supervision on the quality of imported drugs and medical devices. He hoped that China and the United States could continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation under the framework agreement of healthcare cooperation and jointly make positive efforts to protect public health.

 

Appraising the efforts made by Chinese government and SFDA in strengthening the supervision of drugs and medical devices, Mr Padilla expressed the hope that the two sides could continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation.

 

Officials from relevant departments of the Ministry of Health and SFDA gave a brief introduction to the principle and overall objectives of the reform of health care system, the registration and approval of drugs and medical devices, and other policies. Officials from the US Embassy in China as well as the representatives from 15 US enterprises and associations engaged in pharmaceuticals, medical devices and medical insurance were present at the meeting.