Chinas Ministry of Commerce (MOC) on Thursday issued a guideline that says the country will improve supply and marketing of its medical drugs over the next five years.

According to the guideline, the first of its kind issued by the government, the country aims to create one to three nationwide drug distributors with annual sales topping 100 billion yuan (about 15.38 billion U.S. dollars) each by 2015, and another 20 regional distribution companies with sales exceeding 10 billion yuan per year.

The guideline also says the countrys top 100 drug wholesalers should aim to raise their sales to account for more than 85 percent of the market share, while the top 100 retail drug-chains should boost their sales to account for at least 60 percent of the market share.

According to MOC data, China had more than 13,000 drug wholesalers and 388,000 drug retailers by the end of 2009, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises. During the same period, the market share for the countrys top 100 drug wholesalers and retailing drug-chains stood at 70 percent and 39 percent, respectively.