The latest and ninth round of China's centralized procurement of medications is expected to include 40 types of drugs to treat high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, intestinal and cardiovascular diseases and infections, an official from the National Healthcare Security Administration said on Friday.

Wang Guodong, an administration official, said that the eighth round of the national bulk buying program saw an average price decrease of 56 percent for 39 medications. Patients have been able to access these medications at discounted prices since July.

The latest and fourth round of centralized procurement targeting medical consumables — items used by doctors and nurses to treat patients — is also underway, focusing on eye lenses and products related to sports medicine.

China began bulk buying medical products in 2018 to relieve the financial burden on patients.

In recent years, the country has also regularly updated the national drug reimbursement list. Huang Xinyu, an official with the administration, said that the latest list was implemented on Mar 1.

He said that from March to August, 346 medications placed on the list after price negotiations with pharmaceutical companies had saved patients nearly 110 billion yuan ($15 billion).