Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has gained global attention once again after Tu Youyou, a Chinese researcher who was inspired by TCM when discovering anti-malaria compound Artemisinin, won the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine.
But Fang Shuting, president of the China Association of TCM, pointed out that although Tu's achievement will promote TCM globally, more efforts are needed to improve the management of pharmaceutical firms and quality of medicinal herbs in China.
The statement was made during a medicine trade fair which concluded Sunday in Zhangshu City of Jiangxi Province.
According to Fang, nearly 1,600 out of more than 4,000 pharmaceutical companies in China are traditional medicine firms, most of which are low-tech and poorly managed,
"The government should support the mergers and reorganizations of traditional medicine firms since standardized and well-managed enterprises can gain more opportunities in the industry," Fang said.
So far, China has established more than 600 bases for planting traditional Chinese herbs, covering an area of over six million mu (400,000 hectares).
However, the quality of medicinal herbs in the market varies. Fang advocated strengthened supervision on quality and increased use of advanced technologies in planting and processing.
More people have accepted or tried TCM in foreign countries, including Canada, Netherlands and Britain, thanks in part to frequent academic exchanges and efforts made by overseas Chinese.
Fang said a new traditional Chinese drug developed by the researchers from the association is undergoing clinical trial in Australia and is expected to enter the market in the near future.
