Poverty alleviation and school disputes on agenda

Mechanism to ensure reasonable drug prices

The National Healthcare Security Administration will establish a long-term supervision mechanism to ensure the stable supply of clinical medicines at reasonable prices, an official said on Thursday.

Chen Jinfu, deputy head of the administration, told a news conference the mechanism will feature measures including price monitoring, credit rating and legal punishment to make sure pharmaceutical firms set reasonable drug prices.

Data showed the prices of 70 percent of commonly used medicines were cheaper or unchanged since 2015, with the prices of cancer drugs and other expensive medicines dropping by an average of 18 percent.

But about 30 percent of commonly used medicines saw price rises, which Chen attributed to a lack of market adjustments and price hikes for raw materials.

He said unreasonable price hikes will be punished in accordance with relevant regulations and laws, and efforts will be made to further reform the drug procurement mechanism to maintain a fair, healthy and competitive market.