BEIJING -- China has taken another step toward greater health care transparency by launching mini-programs that allow users to compare drug prices at designated pharmacies in 29 provincial-level regions, and in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

These tools enable users to search for drug prices, compare those prices at different pharmacies, and locate nearby pharmacies, the National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) said on Thursday.

The initiative aims to encourage pharmacies to adopt fairer pricing practices while enhancing service efficiency and affordability for the public.

According to the NHSA, residents in the areas covered can access these features through the apps of their provincial-level health care bureaus and the mini-programs. In some areas, these mini-programs also offer additional services such as inventory tracking, abnormal pricing alerts and drug price trend analysis.

The 29 provincial-level regions include Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, the NHSA said.

A mini-program is a lightweight application embedded within a larger online platform, such as WeChat, that provides specific services or function.