A Chinese herbal drug company has launched a rival to Viagra, the male potency drug, called "Weige" or Big Brother. A packet of eight of the pills costs the equivalent of €9.70 (£7.64) - far cheaper than Viagra, which is made by Pfizer, the US pharmaceutical company.

Company officials are well aware of the potential of their product. "We are going to sell 100 million pills this year," said Mr Jiang Wei, chairman of Shenyang Feilong, which is based in China's north east. "Our Weige works better than Viagra, and it is all herbal so it does not have any side effects."

The drug has not undergone independent clinical trials, but Mr Jiang said tests had been performed on volunteers.

The product's packaging is designed to look foreign.