In its annual report, China FDA's Center for Food and Drug Inspection (CFDI) said the number of applications from firms for GMP certification reviewed by the end of the year fell to 221 from 482 in 2014 and from a five-year high of 584 in 2013.

Nine of the 221 reports reviewed failed inspection, but the number of firms that received warning letters during the year reached 68, or nearly 31 percent of the total, a continued uptick from 30.3 percent the previous year and almost double the 17.8 percent in 2013.

Chinese regulatory officials have pushed in the past few years for mandatory GMP certification for all drug manufacturing plants. The urgency drives from an official campaign to ensure safety to a public concerned about fake and adulterated medicines and to assure international buyers of exported products.

Along those lines, the country is said to mull membership in the drug manufacturing convention known as the Pharmaceuticals Inspection Cooperation Scheme.

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