FDA to open China offices

The US Food and Drug Administration will open three offices in China this week to help check the safety of exports headed to America.

The new FDA offices, which are the first outside of the United States, will increase effectiveness in protecting American and Chinese consumers, according to the office of US Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Mike Leavitt.

Leavitt and the agency's Food and Drug Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach will open the first office in Beijing tomorrow, followed by one in Guangzhou and another in Shanghai.