Sanjiu Enterprise Group, China's biggest drugmaker, agreed to buy a majority stake in a closely held maker of non-prescription drugs called Toa Seiyaku K K to enter the Japanese market.

　　Toa, based in Toyama prefecture bordering the Japan Sea, will issue new shares to Sanjiu, the Chinese company said in a faxed statement. Sanjiu said it has yet to determine the financial terms of the purchase. Hac Kimisawa Co, a Japanese drugstore operator, will also buy a stake in Toa, according to the statement.

　　Sanjiu will take at least a 51 percent stake in Toa in August, said Setsuko Hinuma, a Sanjiu spokeswoman in Tokyo. Sanjiu plans to start selling about five of its over-the-counter medications later this year in Japan, she said.

　　"As China's biggest drugmaker, we have been working on introducing herbal medications to the Japanese market," Sanjiu said in the statement. "Expansion of our over-the-counter product line and introduction of new products is absolutely imperative to meet the needs in the Japanese market."

　　Under an agreement last year, Hac Kimisawa currently sells Sanjiu's supplements based on herbal extracts, said company Spokesman Kimikazu Harakawa.