China has robust system of vaccine quality supervision, says official

China has a robust vaccine quality supervision and management system that is recognized internationally, Yuan Lin, head of the Drug Supervision and Management Department of the National Medical Products Administration, said in a news briefing on March 15.

China's vaccine production abides by Good Manufacturing Practices, a global system of regulations for ensuring the consistency and quality of products, he said, adding the country's vaccine supervision system has passed evaluation by the World Health Organization twice.

"This goes to show that our vaccine supervision and management has been recognized in the world," he said. China is also the world's only country to issue a law dedicated to vaccine management.

"We particularly stress that vaccine manufacturing should be held with utmost responsibility during production, and strictly follow all regulations," he said.

As a regulatory body, the National Medical Products Administration has gone through thorough supervision work of the four vaccine companies that were granted conditional market approval for their COVID-19 vaccines.

One key measure is to station two or more professional inspectors at these vaccine companies to ensure every step of production is done in accordance with laws and regulations, thus guaranteeing the quality of the product, he said.

The administration is also working closely with relevant government departments to keep track of vaccines and monitor potential cases of any adverse effects, as well as severely punish those who are breaching rules and the law.

"All these measures can fully ensure that our COVID-19 vaccines are safe," he said.