Co-sponsored by China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) and the government of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, the Sixth China-ASEAN Summit for Drug Development and Cooperation opened in Fangchenggang, Guangxi on Sept 8. Themed on "strengthening the supervision of drugs and medical devices, creating the development of refined technology and intelligent manufacture in the industry",  the summit was held both online and offline. Li Bin, vice-chairperson of the government of Guangxi, and Xu Jinghe, deputy commissioner of the NMPA, participated in and spoke at the summit.

Xu said that since 2015, China has been continuously pushing forward the reform of the review and approval system for drugs and medical devices. The establishment of a drug regulatory legal system has made significant progress, drug marketing authorization has been remarkably accelerated, drug quality has been further upgraded, and the ecology of drug innovation has been prominently improved. Relevant research shows that in 2020, China's contributions to global pharmaceutical research and development ranked high in the second echelon, and China's contributions to the number of global R&D product lines jumped to about 14 percent, ranking second in the world.

Xu said China's drug regulatory department will earnestly implement the State Council's instructions on comprehensively strengthening drug regulatory capability building, seize the opportunities of technological revolution and industrial development, and adhere to a scientific, law-based, international and modern development path so as to further deepen the reform of the review and approval system for drugs and medical devices and accelerate improvements in the drug regulatory system. Efforts will also be made to strengthen full lifecycle drug quality supervision, promote China's scientific action plan for drug regulation, and comprehensively enhance drug regulatory capacity building in a bid to expedite China's transformation from a big pharmaceutical manufacturer to a major pharmaceutical manufacturer.

Since the first China-ASEAN Summit for Drug Development and Cooperation was held in 2011, it has gradually developed into an important platform focusing on regulatory laws and policies, encouraging industrial innovation and development and promoting regional industrial cooperation. China's drug regulatory department will uphold the principles of openness, cooperation and mutual benefit, continue to deepen cooperation with ASEAN countries in the drug industry and drug regulation, and further expand new areas of drug regulation collaboration.

Delegates from the health and drug regulatory departments of China and 10 member countries of ASEAN, as well as representatives of enterprises involved in research and production of drugs and medical devices, will have in-depth exchanges and discussions on the construction of drug regulatory legal systems, deepening reforms of the review and approval system, and the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The Seminar on China-ASEAN Quality Standards of Chinese Herbal Medicines will be held simultaneously.

Officials of the NMPA and its affiliated institutions, as well as representatives of provincial-level drug watchdogs, took part in the summit.