News story

MHRA holds collaborative workshops with China’s medicines regulator throughout 2021, and landmark bilateral conference in June

The collaboration aims to support China’s regulator in strengthening their regulatory capacity to improve patient access to safe and high-quality medicines and to promote global health security.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) are collaborating with their counterpart in China, the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) to deliver a series of workshops in order to improve patient access to safe, effective and high-quality medicines in line with global standards.

A bilateral conference took place on 9 June and was opened by MHRA Chief Executive, Dr June Raine and NMPA Deputy Commissioner, Chen Shifei, who marked the commitment towards closer UK-China collaborations in health.

The project addresses challenges faced in the Chinese regulatory environment and the need to align with international best practices. The MHRA is focussing on five key areas: clinical development, marketing authorisation assessment, competency development framework, inspection and standards, and post-market surveillance. This collaboration aims to strengthen the NMPA’s regulatory capacity, leading to an internationally robust regulatory environment that promotes patient safety and minimises accessibility delays.

MHRA Chief Executive, Dr June Raine said:

We are very pleased to be working with our Chinese counterparts in this excellent knowledge-sharing initiative.

We hope to strengthen our international relationships and operate together in a global regulatory environment to improve access to new medicines and protect public health worldwide.

Published 15 July 2021