BEIJING - Chinese political advisors on Thursday suggested cutting red tape to encourage domestic development of generic drugs but also establishing tougher standards to assess their quality.

"Improving the quality of generic drugs concerns the sustainability of the health insurance system and matters to whether people can afford efficient drugs," according to a statement released after a bi-weekly consultation presided over by Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the top political advisory body.

Advisors proposed establishing unified standards for hospitals to use when selecting drugs and preferential policies encouraging procurement of better drugs.

China is pushing for improvements to its drug producers as the country faces pressure from an aging population. The China Food and Drug Administration took a tough stance in November against substandard generic drugs by rejecting 11 drug applications over false clinical trial data. Eight of the applications were for generic drugs.