Recently, from an interview at the 2021 Global Service Trade Conference "International Tourism and Traditional Chinese Medicine Service Trade Development Trends Seminar", we learned that in the context of the global fight against the new crown pneumonia epidemic, with the continuous strengthening of international cooperation and the development of world service trade With accelerated development, the internationalization of Chinese medicine is expected to enter the fast lane.

Industry experts believe that in the future, under the dual support of national policies and market demand, the Chinese medicine industry is expected to accelerate the opening of a new phase of internationalization. Some experts suggest that overseas localization can become an effective path for Chinese medicine to "go global."

Overseas registration and patents have become competitive

On October 13, based on the analysis of 19,470 data from 177 companies around the world, the International Development Research Center of Traditional Chinese Medicine of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Institute of International Service Trade of the Institute of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce issued the "" The two reports of "Global Enterprise Ranking for Traditional Medicine Internationalization" and "Traditional Chinese Medicine "Going Global" Enterprise Index" analyze the status quo of overseas development of Chinese traditional medicine companies from multiple dimensions. Data show that among the top 30 Chinese medicine companies with overseas assets, 20 are from mainland China, occupying a dominant position.

The report shows that in addition to asset advantages, overseas registrations and overseas patents of Chinese products have also become competitive. Among them, in the top 30 "products registered overseas", there are 17 mainland Chinese companies, accounting for about 57%; among the top 30 "overseas patents", there are 14 mainland Chinese companies, accounting for about Is 47%.

In this regard, some analysts believe that these data reflect that China's traditional Chinese medicine is increasingly internationalized. In the context of the global fight against the new crown pneumonia epidemic, with the continuous strengthening of international cooperation and the accelerated development of world service trade, China's traditional Chinese medicine Internationalization is expected to enter the fast lane.

Zheng Peiyong, executive director of the Chinese Medicine Think Tank Branch of the Chinese Society of Chinese Medicine Information, pointed out that under the background of the joint construction of the "Belt and Road", Chinese medicine has become an important field of exchanges and cooperation at the national level, and a series of important results have been achieved in the process of internationalization. At present, Chinese medicine has spread to 183 countries and regions, and 86 special Chinese medicine cooperation agreements have been signed with foreign governments and regional organizations, most of which are located in countries along the “Belt and Road”.

The internationalization of Chinese medicine is inseparable from the cooperation of professional services. Vice Minister of Commerce Wang Bingnan stated at the 2021 China International Trade in Services Fair that the outstanding performance of Chinese medicine in fighting the epidemic has received extensive attention and positive comments from the international community. At the same time, digital empowerment of new business models and models such as online diagnosis and treatment has injected new impetus into the Chinese medicine service trade, and the development of the Chinese medicine service trade has ushered in a window period.

Policies to make up for the shortcomings of "going out"

It cannot be ignored that the overseas development of Chinese medicine companies still faces many shortcomings and challenges. The above report pointed out that the proportion of overseas revenue of Chinese traditional Chinese medicine companies in total revenue is generally low; Chinese brands are also low in overseas popularity. According to the ranking of "brand overseas popularity", the top 30 includes 6 mainland Chinese companies, accounting for only About 20% of the top rankings are almost all occupied by overseas companies.

Industry insiders pointed out that overseas laws and regulations are still a major obstacle for Chinese medicine to "go global." Yu Zhibin, director of the Chinese Medicine Department of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Medicines and Health Products, pointed out that the laws and regulations of traditional medicine in overseas countries are different, which has brought certain obstacles to the international development of Chinese medicine in China.

The shortcomings faced by Chinese medicine "going out" have also become the focus of policy.

At the beginning of this year, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Several Policy Measures on Accelerating the Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine with Characteristics" and proposed to implement the open development project of Chinese medicine. Formulate the "One Belt One Road" development plan for traditional Chinese medicine during the 14th Five-Year Plan. Encourage and support social forces to adopt market-oriented methods and jointly build a batch of friendly Chinese medicine hospitals and Chinese medicine industrial parks with countries with the potential and willingness to cooperate. Develop "Internet + Traditional Chinese Medicine Trade" to provide visa convenience for those who come to China to receive Chinese medicine services. Coordinate the formulation of international traditional medicine standards and regulatory rules, and support international cooperation in traditional medicine science and technology.

Related departments are also accelerating deployment. Wang Bingnan said that the Ministry of Commerce will continue to guide the construction of a national Chinese medicine service export base with the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and promote Chinese medicine services to the world. It is hoped that all bases will earnestly undertake the important mission of expanding the international market of Chinese medicine service trade and exploring the path of traditional Chinese medicine inheritance and innovation.

Huang Luqi, deputy director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and member of the Party Leadership Group, said that the Chinese medicine service export base should give full play to the advantages of traditional Chinese medicine, provide high-quality Chinese medicine services to the international community, help the international community fight the new crown epidemic, and help build a human health community. .

Wang Bingnan also revealed that before the end of this year, the Ministry of Commerce will also work with the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine to support the first batch of national Chinese medicine service export bases, and at the same time initiate the expansion of the second batch of bases.

At the same time, many places also regard internationalization as an important focus for promoting the development of Chinese medicine. Beijing recently proposed to support the national TCM service export base and TCM service trade institutions to open up the international market and enhance TCM international medical service capabilities.

Recently, Liaoning also proposed to expand the foreign trade and cultural communication channels of Chinese medicine. Innovate the format, system and function of Chinese medicine service trade, and build high-quality two national Chinese medicine service export bases, one Chinese medicine overseas center and three international cooperation bases.

The industry seeks to enhance the competitiveness of the industry

Insiders reminded that the internationalization of Chinese medicine is a long-term and complicated project. Due to the constraints of cultural differences between China and the West, the internationalization of Chinese medicine lacks legal and institutional guarantees. It is difficult to integrate domestic standards with international standards and requires multiple efforts and enhancements. Industrial competitiveness. Some experts also suggest that the localization of Chinese medicine overseas can be an effective way to promote Chinese medicine to "go global."

Ding Yongling, deputy general manager of Beijing Tongrentang (Group) Co., Ltd., China, said: "The core of the new trend in the development of Chinese medicine service trade is that Chinese medicine will become one of the inevitable choices to serve human health. In the future, Chinese medicine needs to be in more dimensions— —Such as public health emergencies, standard rule systems, and dissemination of public opinion systems. Especially in the post-epidemic era, the steady and long-term development of Chinese medicine service trade requires deep cultural self-confidence and road self-confidence to break through the predicament and show The dual advantages of TCM theory and practice."

Dai Biao, general manager of the international business group of Tasly Group, pointed out that the internationalization of Chinese medicine requires the participation and recognition of foreign mainstream medicine (western medicine). Therefore, it is very important to build a communication and cooperation platform so that Chinese and Western medicine can complement each other, learn from each other, and communicate with each other.

Sun Xuefei, general manager of Yiling Pharmaceutical International Trade Center, said that the biggest problem with the internationalization of Chinese medicine lies in how to explain the meaning of Chinese medicine and clarify the real competitors. Related domestic enterprises must have the idea of win-win cooperation, learn from each other, and share resources.

In response to the development obstacles brought about by overseas laws and regulations, Yu Zhibin suggested that enterprises can realize the overseas localization of Chinese medicine through overseas investment, industrial landing, and integrated development with local traditional medicine.

In addition, Yu Zhibin also called for Chinese medicine products to "go global" and focus on innovating overseas sales channels. "The overseas development of Chinese medicine is not limited to drug sales channels. It should flexibly determine the scope of application of products based on the target market and the characteristics of the products, including traditional botanicals, health foods, dietary supplements, etc., to occupy the market first, and then to the high-end strict The herbal medicine market is near."