Ask about approved generics and medicines selected through China's centralized procurement

Free. Ask the prescriber or pharmacist whether an appropriate centrally procured generic is available.

The second national round reduced prices 53% on average and 93% at most. By April 2026, 11 rounds covered 490 medicines. Products passing, or treated as having passed, quality-and-efficacy consistency evaluation numbered 1,695, about two-thirds of commonly used chemical medicines. These are Chinese official figures from 2020–2026.

The claim that consistency evaluation compares ingredients but not clinical outcomes is partly right. Bioequivalence studies commonly give medicines to healthy volunteers and compare blood-concentration profiles with the originator; the source describes the acceptance range as 80%–125%, with stricter requirements for narrow-therapeutic-index drugs. Excipients, including fillers and coatings, may differ; requirements concern the active ingredient, dosage form, administration and therapeutic action. This is not the same as treating patients and observing recovery. Separate NHSA-organized real-world studies addressed patient outcomes: by December 2024 they covered 63 procured medicines, nearly 100 tertiary hospitals and over 300,000 patients, reporting no meaningful overall difference from originators. For metformin, HbA1c target attainment was 83.4% for generic versus 78.9% for originator, while fasting-glucose attainment was 83.8% versus 87.6%; neither group was uniformly better. In January 2025, public claims that procured blood-pressure drugs, anesthetics and laxatives failed led to investigation at 7 Shanghai hospitals. Officials attributed most claims to hearsay or impressions; the named laxative had not yet entered hospital use. They also acknowledged genuine problem products: among over 1,600 selections in the first 9 rounds, 9 lost eligibility for quality risks—6 imported, including 3 originators, and 3 domestic. Originators are not banned: procurement commitments usually cover 60%–80% of hospital purchasing, with the remainder locally chosen, so continuing an originator may be possible at higher cost. After changing a chronic medicine, record blood pressure, glucose and HbA1c consistently. If control worsens, consult the clinician and request adverse-reaction reporting; do not stop treatment yourself.

National Healthcare Security Administration of China (2020). Q&A on the second national centralized drug-procurement round. https://www.nhsa.gov.cn/art/2020/1/17/art_38_2264.html ; NHSA (2026). State Council policy briefing on whole-cycle, all-channel drug pricing. http://www.nhsa.gov.cn/art/2026/4/15/art_14_20221.html ; General Office, State Council (2016). Opinions on generic-drug quality and efficacy consistency evaluation, Guobanfa [2016] No. 8. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2016-03/05/content_5049364.htm ; China Food and Drug Administration (2016). Announcement No. 61 on three technical guidelines for ordinary oral solid preparations, attachments 1 and 3, reproduced by Hainan's drug administration. https://amr.hainan.gov.cn/himpa/ztzl/fzy/201607/t20160720_1591587.html ; NHSA (2024). Full coverage of manufacturer inspections and product sampling for centrally procured medicines. https://www.nhsa.gov.cn/art/2024/12/30/art_52_15287.html ; NHSA (2025). Healthcare-security and drug-regulatory officials interviewed on procurement medicines. https://www.nhsa.gov.cn/art/2025/2/9/art_14_15647.html