Beijing, China In one of the most disruptive health scandals in recent Chinese history, regulators uncovered serious wrongdoing by Changchun Changsheng Biotechnology Co., Ltd., a major vaccine manufacturer, after it falsified records in the production of a rabies vaccine and was linked to the use of substandard DTP vaccines in child immunizations. The revelations triggered mass public outrage, intense media scrutiny, and a collapse of vaccine confidence across the nation.
Government inspectors first identified irregularities on July 15, 2018, during a China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) unannounced inspection. Officials found that Changchun Changsheng had manipulated production and quality inspection records while manufacturing freeze-dried rabies vaccines, a life-saving product typically given to individuals after potential exposure to the deadly rabies virus. Authorities immediately halted production and detained the problematic vaccine batches to prevent their use.
News of the China vaccine scandal spread rapidly once official announcements were made. A public statement from the World Health Organization (WHO) on July 25, 2018, supported the regulatory action, emphasizing the importance of strong vaccine oversight and noting that all problematic batches were withheld from the market.
The revelations sparked an intense social media storm. Chinese citizens expressed anger and fear on platforms such as Weibo, with posts questioning how many children might have received ineffective or unsafe doses. An influential blog piece titled “The King of Vaccines” went viral in late July, accumulating millions of views and intensifying scrutiny of both vaccine makers and regulators.
By July 23, 2018, additional scrutiny revealed that the same manufacturer had produced more than 250,000 substandard DTP (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis) vaccines, administered mainly to infants and young children. This discovery expanded the crisis from a production violation to a broader public health emergency.
Chinese leadership responded with urgency. Premier Li Keqiang publicly condemned the misconduct, calling for severe punishment of companies and officials who endangered public health. Regulatory authorities arrested numerous company leaders and initiated broader inspections of vaccine producers nationwide.
The scandal triggered a nationwide regulatory sweep. By late July, authorities ordered Changchun Changsheng to recall all incorrect vaccine products and imposed production halts while investigators combed through company practices and compliance.
In October 2018, Chinese regulators hit the company with one of the largest pharmaceutical fines ever issued in the country : ¥9.1 billion (approx. US$1.3 billion) for falsifying rabies vaccine production data and broadly violating drug safety norms. Officials also revoked the company’s vaccine production license and barred key executives from the industry.
Beyond administrative punishment, police investigations led to criminal charges and the arrest of multiple executives suspected of producing and selling substandard vaccines, highlighting the legal magnitude of the breach.
Social science research has shown that the Changchun Changsheng vaccine scandal deeply undermined public trust in vaccines and healthcare regulators. A study in Vaccine reported that in 2018, more than 215,000 unqualified DTP vaccine doses were implicated in the crisis, and over 80 % of online comments expressed weak confidence in domestically manufactured vaccines.
Another analysis of Chinese social media found that discussions around vaccine safety shifted dramatically after the incident, with many parents expressing fear, anger, and distrust toward both manufacturers and government oversight. Such expressions persisted well beyond the initial outbreak of news, indicating long-lasting vaccine hesitancy and skepticism.
Official reports stressed that while the flawed vaccines were deemed unlikely to cause direct harm, their compromised effectiveness raised serious questions about regulatory compliance and vaccine safety oversight. Officials emphasized the need for strict quality control, thorough inspections, and robust enforcement of manufacturing standards to prevent similar scandals in future.
References:
1. Hu, Dian, Christine Martin, Mark Dredze, and David A. Broniatowski. 2020. “Chinese Social Media Suggest Decreased Vaccine Acceptance in China: An Observational Study on Weibo Following the 2018 Changchun Changsheng Vaccine Incident.” Vaccine 38, no. 13 (March 17): 2764–2770. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7211271/
2. Zhou, Min, Shujuan Qu, Lindu Zhao, Nan Kong, Kathryn S. Campy, and Song Wang. “Trust Collapse Caused by the Changsheng Vaccine Crisis in China.” Vaccine 37, no. 26 (June 6, 2019): 3419–3425. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0264410X19306346
3. World Health Organization. “WHO Statement on Rabies Vaccine Incident in China.” World Health Organization (WHO), July 25, 2018. Accessed January 8, 2026. https://www.who.int/china/zh/news/detail/25-07-2018-who-statement-on-rabies-vaccine-incident-in-china
