The health ministry has halted registration of all new stem-cell projects for six months amid a year-long crackdown on hospitals cashing in on unproven stem-cell therapies.
It also said yesterday that all clinical trials of stem-cell therapies should be free.
Many foreigners have flocked to mainland hospitals for expensive stem-cell treatments that are offered far more freely than in the United States and other Western countries.
A notice posted on the Ministry of Health's website said all unauthorised and unproven stem-cell clinical trials and applications should be suspended immediately, and those approved by the State Food and Drug Administration should follow to the letter the authorities' instructions, with changes to the trials and profit-seeking banned.
Ministry spokesman Deng Haihua admitted that health authorities had run into problems in their handling of stem-cell treatments.
'To develop stem-cell therapies and technology on a correct path, the ministry and State Food and Drug Administration decided to jointly launch a one-year crackdown on the sector,' Deng said.