China's top drug regulator on Monday issued a guideline for online sales of prescription drugs, mandating real-name purchases and stricter prescription reviews amid growing concerns over medication safety.

The guideline, released by the National Medical Products Administration, comes as the nation's online drug retail market expands rapidly, exceeding 80 billion yuan ($11.8 billion) in 2025.

Authorities said the move aims to address problems in online prescription drug sales, including sales without valid prescriptions, inadequate prescription reviews and false advertising.

Under the new rules, all online purchases of prescription drugs must be made under real names and backed by verified physician prescriptions.

The guideline also explicitly bans the use of artificial intelligence to conduct pharmacist reviews of prescriptions and prohibits the reuse of the same prescription for multiple purchases.

Online drug retailers are required to keep pharmacists' daily prescription review workloads within reasonable limits, according to the guideline.

It also prohibits platforms from encouraging consumers to use medications irrationally or excessively.

When pharmacists discover that a prescription drug purchase is intended for a minor, they are required to issue medication safety warnings and block the transaction if necessary.