Xi urges thorough probe at Standing Committee meeting

More than 40 government officials, including seven at the provincial level, have been held accountable for a substandard vaccines scandal at Changchun Changsheng Biotech Co, the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided at a meeting on Thursday.

The meeting, presided over by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, also called for improving the long-term oversight mechanism for vaccine production while firmly upholding the bottom line of public safety and safeguarding people's health.

Xi attached great importance to the substandard vaccines case, requiring thorough investigations and giving severe punishment for those who are held accountable in line with the laws, according to a statement released after the meeting.

The investigation team sent by the State Council has clarified the case as well as the relevant government officials' performance in fulfilling their duty in the scandal, the statement said.