URUMQI, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) Wednesday signed an agreement with the local government of far western Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to support the development of traditional medicines of ethnic minorities.

Shao Mingli, director of the SFDA, said at a conference in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang, that the agency will provide professional guidance and technological support for the research and development of traditional medicines in Xinjiang.

The administration will also help establish quality standards and assessment systems for the traditional medicine of Uygurs, the dominant ethnic minority in Xinjiang, Shao said.

The agency will also allocate funds for the development of the traditional medicine industry, he said without elaborating.

Xinjiang has over 500 types of popular crude drug products, but half of them don't have quality standards.