"For pharmaceutical enterprises, a market with fair competition is important", said Wei Feiyan, board chairperson of Guangxi-based Huahong Pharmaceutical and a deputy to National People's Congress, "but a fair market cannot come out of nothing. You need fair rules and strict implementation of them."

It was at the full-session discussion of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region delegation on Tuesday that she made her comment, mentioning it because the China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) suspended its electronic code regulation system on February 20.

Being introduced in 2010, the system allows State regulators to trace the production, sales, and disposal of each box of drugs sold in the Chinese mainland by giving every box a unique identity.

However, on January 25 a pharmaceutical enterprise in Central China's Hunan province raised litigation against the CFDA, saying the electronic system was "redundant" and might bring additional economic burden to pharmaceutical enterprises and further to patients.

On Feb 20, the CFDA announced the suspension of the electronic system and published the draft of a new regulating system to solicit public opinions.

At a press conference on Feb 29, the CFDA said while doing quality supervision they need to take everything into consideration and promised to "solve the historical problem of the electronic code system".

"I advise the CFDA to introduce a new tracking system with more detailed columns", Wei said, "and please be as quick as possible. Between the two regulating systems there is a short period without supervision and let's prevent illegal medicine producers from taking advantage."