China's drug watchdog Friday warned of increasing risks of malpractice in traditional medicine production as raw material prices have jumped in the past few months.

The State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) issued a circular to its local branches on Friday to tighten control over production and distribution of traditional medicines to battle the manufacturing of fraudulent medications.

The price of raw material of traditional medicines, mostly herbs and animal products, has soared dramatically in the past few months, which affected the supply and increased the cost, said the SFDA circular, adding that the supply shortage and price hike might lead to fraud.

The document asked local authorities to step up supervision on the purchase channel of pharmacies and be highly alert to deals at unusually low prices.

Pharmacies will be seriously punished if they use substandard materials, illegally amend ingredients or violate production requirements, the document said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2010)