An employee of AstraZeneca's plant in the United States inspects the production line of the lung cancer drug Iressa. Provided to China Daily Pharmaceuticals made overseas, including cancer drugs and traditional Chinese medicines, will be exempt from import taxes starting May 1, as part of a package of polices to improve drug access and public health in China. The move comes just over a week after the central government released measures to boost the production and clinical application of generic drugs to help lower the cost of medical bills. The State Council, which announced the exemptions after an executive meeting on Thursday, also said the value-added tax on the production and import of drugs will be cut by a large amount, a decision experts say will be even more effective in easing patients' financial pressures. Imports of innovative medicines will be encouraged, while the protection of drugmakers' intellectual property rights will be strengthened, the Cabinet said. This month, the central government issued a notice encouraging the development and production of generic drugs that are in short supply. A generic drug is a medication that has the same active ingredients as a brand-name patented drug and yields the same medicinal effects, but it can be marketed only after the patent has expired. Generic drugs are less expensive because their manufacturers don't have to duplicate the original clinical trials for effectiveness and safety, which lowers the cost of bringing the drug to market, said Yu Li, an expert at the Beijing Institute for Drug Control. About 95 percent of the nearly 170,000 drug production projects approved in China were for generic medicines, according to the National Health Commission. The notice said government departments will draft a list of generic drugs that are in demand and will support their production with policies such as preferential tax rates for pharmaceutical companies. To speed up the evaluation process, a testing system will be set up through several departments, including the nation's top health, drug and science authorities, the notice said. It also emphasized that the quality of generic drug production should be enhanced. Competition between drugmakers was once unregulated, and the quality of products could vary and even be unsatisfactory, Xinhua News Agency recently quoted an unnamed official from the National Health Commission as saying. China is home to more than 4,000 pharmaceutical companies that produce generic drugs, according to the China Food and Drug Administration, which is now part of the newly created State Market Regulatory Administration. The notice stressed that strengthening safeguards for intellectual property related to drug innovation and production will be a priority, with the interests of patent holders balanced with the public's needs. Infringing patents will be prohibited, it said. However, the government notice said that in the event of a serious epidemic or public health emergency that threatens lives, compulsory licensing and production of patented drugs will be initiated to allow generic copies onto the market as soon as possible. design rubber braceletspersonalized rubber braceletsparty wristbandsmake your own rubber bracelet
Xi Jinping: The Governance of China joins best-sellers at Neo-Luxor bookstore in March, when Chinese books were displayed in Prague, Czech Republic. PENG DAWEI/CHINA NEWS SERVICE A book of anecdotes by President Xi Jinping has sold nearly 1.5 million copies in less than four months. Another book, Xi Jinping: The Governance of China, has sold 6.42 million copies in 21 languages in more than 160 countries and regions, and is about to mark its third anniversary. For Zhou Huilin, deputy chief of the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television, such sales show how China has opened a window for readers from home and abroad to understand the country through themed publications. These publications refer to titles on the theories, policies and strategies of the Communist Party of China, as well as the achievements of socialism with Chinese characteristics and the Chinese Dream. As China's comprehensive national power rises, more countries and readers are eager to learn about the world's fastest growing economy, the world's largest political party and the leadership that oversees both, Zhou said. Introducing good themed publications is an important way to boost China's soft power, clearly answer questions for readers worldwide and boost our country's image and influence. For the first time, the government worked out a special plan for themed publications as part of its 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) for publications. In May, the administration outlined 97 major titles for themed publications for 2017, including those involving strict Party governance and the major governance achievements of the country within the past five years. The book of anecdotes as told by Xi, published by the People's Publishing House, includes over 100 anecdotes taken from hundreds of Xi's speeches and articles, as selected by People's Daily. These vivid stories, which embody Xi's profound thinking on civil, political, diplomatic and national defense affairs, as well as governance of the Party, the country and the military, have opened a window to the essence of Xi's remarks, said Yang Zhenwu, president of People's Daily. Since it was first published in June, copyright sales for the book in English, Japanese, Russian and Vietnamese have been authorized. A story is better than a thousand dry arguments, said Yang Jingjie, an undergraduate at Beijing Foreign Studies University.
