Medical stocks reel amid calls for ban on controversial treatment

Calls by the National Health and Family Planning Commission, at its conference on Wednesday, for a halt to cellular immunotherapy as a treatment for cancer had a negative impact on more than 20 related listed medical companies.

Shanghai Haixin Group Co Ltd saw its shares decline 2.46 percent on Thursday, despite the benchmark index and most other shares edged higher.

The group's subsidiary Shanghai Haixin Biotechnology Co, together with the Second Military Medical University, co-developed antigen pulsed human dendritic cells, China's first self-developed therapeutic vaccine.