SHANGHAI - Medicines selected through the current round of the Chinese government's new centralized drug-procurement program will be 56 percent cheaper than normal, on average, for those public health facilities that purchase them, according to the National Healthcare Security Administration.

The fifth round of the centralized drug-procurement program, which took place in Shanghai on Wednesday, saw 201 companies bidding to provide medicines to public health facilities, including hospitals. Of those companies making bids, 148 were successful on Wednesday, with 251 products being qualified.

Among the bid-winning products are 11 products from 10 foreign-funded enterprises.

The centralized procurement system, launched in 2019, has been hailed by experts as a means of boosting drug accessibility for Chinese patients and reducing their financial burden of treatment.