Administration calls for greater medical product supervision

The National Medical Products Administration has asked local medical products administration authorities to strengthen supervision on the quality of epidemic prevention and control equipment exported overseas, the administration said on Friday.

Xu Jinghe, deputy director of the administration, said as the COVID-19 pandemic spreads rapidly abroad, there has been a surge in the demand of epidemic prevention and control equipment and many Chinese products have been exported to aid the global fight against the outbreak.

The quality of such equipment reflects on national image and China's reputation, and local authorities should make the utmost effort to conduct quality supervision and ensure the quality of such products, Xu said at a video conference.

Provincial medical product administrations should compile a list of all enterprises manufacturing and exporting medical equipment, keep a record on all export goods and make sure all products are traceable, he said.

Local authorities should not issue approval of export to enterprises that have not obtained approval to manufacture medical equipment, he said.

Any enterprises found exporting substandard products should be asked to stop production, and cannot resume until the problem is solved, Xu said.

Authorities should also increase the frequency of random inspections, and all cases that have been found of violating regulations and laws will be dealt with seriously with responsible people held accountable, he added.