China is capable of safeguarding drug safety for its people, the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) Director Shao Mingli said on Friday.

Shao made the remarks during an exclusive interview with Xinhua on the first white paper on Status Quo of Drug Supervision in China published on Friday.

"In the past, what people were concerned about is whether they have drugs to cure their diseases, but now what they are concerned is which drug is better and safer," he said.

"This change reflects that people's awareness about health is increasing with China's economic development in the past 30 years, " he said.

"To safeguard drug safety for the public is an important task for governments at various levels and the basic obligation for drug supervision bureaux," he said.

For many years the Chinese government has been continuously improving its drug safety supervision system, its drug safety technical supporting system and related laws and regulations, he said.

By the end of 2007, 64,000 drug supervision officials worked for 2,692 drug regulatory departments and the State Council promulgated 17 administrative regulations concerning drugs.

China also implements a certification system in line with international standards such as Good Manufacturing Practice certification for pharmaceutical manufacturers and Good Laboratory Practice certification for non-clinical drug research.

In the meantime, China has continued to spend more money to upgrade its drug supervision technology.

Shao cited the testing vehicles used for quake relief after the earthquake in southwest China's Sichuan on May 12. The vehicles acted as moving testing labs.

"The testing vehicles are widely used in China's vast rural areas and play an important role in combating fake drugs," he said.

China, however, as the largest developing country, still faces many difficulties and problems in drug supervision, he said.

"China will continue its efforts to guarantee drug safety and improve the health of the public," he said.

The white paper, the first of its kind, summarizes China's drug supervision, which is helpful for the international community to learn about China's status quo of drug supervision and promote international cooperation in this field, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 19, 2008)