The China Food and Drug Administration is attempting to improve how traditional Chinese medicine is produced with the help of a host of government agencies.

The latest move in a bid to help ensure TCM consumer safety and product quality came after the administration sampled boiled-down pieces of TCM herbal medicines from four Chinese provinces, including Anhui and Gansu, and found that 22 of 397 batches were processed improperly using methods such as "sulfur smoking" and coloring medicines with banned chemicals.

In a directive publicized by the administration at a news conference on Wednesday, a number of processing methods were banned, such as using sulfur in smoking Chinese herbs.