Health & Beauty

At present, 29 countries and regions around the world have formulated laws and regulations on traditional medicine, and China has signed cooperation agreements on traditional Chinese medicine with 43 foreign governments, regions, and international organizations.

Traditional Chinese medicine has spread to 196 countries and regions, and the international trade import and export of traditional Chinese medicine products in China has significantly increased. "On March 22, the" Blue Book of Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry Development (2022) "released at the China High Quality Development Conference of Traditional Chinese Medicine held in Shenzhen showed that the open development of traditional Chinese medicine has achieved positive results.

The improvement of global public health awareness is continuously consolidating the foundation for the international trade market development of traditional Chinese medicine products. At present, 29 countries and regions around the world have formulated laws and regulations on traditional medicine, and China has signed cooperation agreements on traditional Chinese medicine with 43 foreign governments, regions, and international organizations.

The import and export of Chinese herbal products such as plant extracts, Chinese medicinal materials and decoction pieces, traditional Chinese patent medicines and simple preparations, health care products, etc. have maintained a good growth momentum. According to data from the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Medical and Health Products, in 2022, China's foreign trade of traditional Chinese medicine continued the high growth trend of 2021, with a total import and export volume of 8.57 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 10.7%. Among them, the export value was 5.69 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 13.8%; The import volume reached 2.88 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 5.1%.

With the deepening of the concept of healthy diet and disease prevention, the export volume of Chinese plant extracts has increased, and the export volume in 2022 has achieved a year-on-year increase of 16.5%. In recent years, the accelerated pace of overseas registration of Chinese medicine has led to the increasing export of traditional Chinese patent medicines and simple preparations. In 2022, China's traditional Chinese patent medicines and simple preparations exports will reach 380 million US dollars, up 23.8% year on year; The export volume was 13100 tons, a year-on-year increase of 12.6%.

Although China's foreign trade of traditional Chinese medicine products achieved stable growth last year and achieved good results in overseas registration of traditional Chinese medicine, the development of foreign trade of traditional Chinese medicine still faces challenges such as complex international political and economic situations and global industrial chain adjustments. The relevant person in charge of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department of the Medical Insurance Chamber of Commerce pointed out that the expansion of the foreign trade market of traditional Chinese medicine can focus on the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP), the "the Belt and Road" and other key regions.

In recent years, China and relevant countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization have conducted extensive and close exchanges and cooperation in the field of traditional medicine. At present, China has established overseas traditional Chinese medicine centers in multiple SCO related countries. In 2022, the import and export volume of traditional Chinese medicine between China and relevant countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization reached 820 million US dollars, accounting for about 10% of China's total foreign trade volume of traditional Chinese medicine. The SCO Traditional Medicine Industry Alliance was established in September 2022, aiming to further promote the exchange, interaction, and cooperation of traditional medicine among member countries and the development of the traditional medicine industry by strengthening multi-level exchanges, interactions, and cooperation among industry, academia, research, and medicine.

Other member countries of RCEP are the trading partners of Chinese traditional medicine and traditional Chinese patent medicines and simple preparations. In 2022, the import and export volume of traditional Chinese medicine products between China and other RCEP member countries was 3.36 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 17.0%. Among them, the export volume increased by 17.3% and the import volume increased by 16.6%. The implementation of RCEP will significantly enhance the level of economic integration in East Asia, while also effectively promoting trade and exchange cooperation in traditional Chinese medicine. At present, China only allows 11 types of traditional Chinese medicine materials to be imported from Malaysia, and has not yet effectively developed and utilized hundreds of medicinal plant resources in Malaysia. There is still great potential for cooperation in traditional Chinese medicine trade between the two countries under the RCEP framework.

Traditional Chinese medicine is an important component of cultural exchanges along the Silk Road. In 2022, the import and export volume of international trade of traditional Chinese medicine between China and the "the Belt and Road" countries will be 3.55 billion US dollars, accounting for 41.4% of the total foreign trade volume of traditional Chinese medicine. Among them, the export value was 1.94 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 16.7%; The import volume reached 1.61 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 18.8%. The high-quality joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" will provide greater support for the "going out" and "bringing in" of traditional Chinese medicine.

To further enhance the international influence of traditional Chinese medicine, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Implementation Plan for the Major Project of Traditional Chinese Medicine Revitalization and Development" on February 28th, proposing to implement the open development project of traditional Chinese medicine. Through the construction of an open development platform, the International Influence Enhancement Plan, the International Trade Promotion Plan, and the International Anti epidemic Cooperation Plan, we will focus on supporting the open development of traditional Chinese medicine industry, academia, research and application, and promote the dissemination and application of traditional Chinese medicine, Assist in building a community of human health and hygiene.

The Plan clearly establishes more types of cooperation platforms, continuously improves the international trade system and mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine, and continuously improves the total international trade volume of traditional Chinese medicine products and services, as well as the level of trade facilitation in the traditional Chinese medicine industry.

Many places have already begun to take active action. According to the deployment of the Sichuan Provincial Traditional Chinese Medicine Work Promotion Conference held on March 20th, this year we will continue to create international event IPs such as "Foreign Leading Group Entering Sichuan Traditional Chinese Medicine", accelerate the layout of "Tianfu Cloud Medicine · Overseas Benefiting Overseas Chinese Remote Medical Station", strengthen the construction of traditional Chinese medicine service export bases, deepen cooperation with Hong Kong, Macao, Hainan and other regions, and assist in the inheritance of Sichuan traditional Chinese medicine culture and foreign exchanges.