5 Beijing drugstores get OK to sell infant formula

Five drugstores in Beijing will sell infant formula as part of a national trial that will allow drugstores to sell the substance, the Beijing News reported on Thursday.

Five stores under the pharmacy groups Jinxiang, Quanxin, Cachet and Yongantang will sell the formula. Infant formula now is sold mostly by supermarkets and online stores.

The trial, conducted by the Institute of International Trade under the Ministry of Commerce, will begin in Beijing and Jiangsu province, where a number of drugstores will sell the formula through vending machines.

The trial includes 11 brands of infant formula, including four foreign brands. Mengniu and Sanyuan, two companies that make dairy products, are among the seven domestic brands that are participating.