The final batch of on-the-spot drug test vans will hit the roads of rural China next month adding extra weight to the campaign to fight counterfeit drugs.

The State Food and Drug Administration will provide a total of 370 vans equipped with testing facilities to local food and drug watchdogs, Yan Jiangying, a spokeswoman for the administration said.

"This kind of mobile inspection of drug quality will benefit consumers, especially the vast rural population," Yan said.

"The move is part of a nationwide campaign to crack down on the production and sale of fake drugs, and bring order to the drug market," she said.

Cheng Chuanghong, a director with the National Institute for the Control of Pharmaceutical and Biological Products, which devised the program, said 338 of the vans were already in operation in 27 provinces.

"The rest will be in place by the end of September," Cheng said.

(China Daily August 4, 2007)