China sees rise in innovative drug approvals

On Friday, China's top drug regulator said it approved 31 innovative drugs from January to August, a rise of nearly 20 percent from the same period last year.

The National Medical Products Administration also granted market approval to 46 innovative medical devices during the same period, an increase of more than 12 percent from last year.

"In the meantime, progress has been made for domestic novel medicines such as molecular targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and cell therapy to obtain market registration overseas, and domestic products are gaining increased recognition in the global market," said the administration.

It added that homegrown, high-end medical equipment, such as surgical robots, artificial hearts, and carbon ion treatment systems, have been approved in recent years, with some being of world-leading quality.

As of August this year, the administration said that it had carried out around 21,000 spot checks on drug manufacturers, with a pass rate of 99.34 percent.

It added that the overall drug safety situation in China is stable.