Tech remedy prescribed for TCM sector

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Tech remedy prescribed for TCM sector

　　The modernization of traditional Chinese medicine has become a prime concern as China aims to develop it as a lucrative global business.
　　The low-tech content in the mainly herbal products has prevented China from cashing in on the booming global demand for traditional Chinese medicine, analysts said.

China has witnessed a steady decrease in the export of processed medicine products in the last few years, while the export of raw materials used to make Chinese medicine and products with simple processing techniques remain a dominating share of more than 65 per cent of the market pie.

"This is a gloomy picture. It indicates that China still only exports low-tech medical products," said Fu Jingying, a senior expert with the China Society of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The industry in China, its birthplace, has been expanding steadily, at an annual rate of 20 per cent. Last year, around 50 billion yuan (US$6 billion) of traditional medical products were produced, 23 per cent of the world's total production.

The growth comes on the back of brisk demand for ancient Chinese medical formulas and practices as foreigners become increasingly interested in the treatments.

But China's share of the global market is only 2 per cent. About 80 per cent of the market is held by Japan and 10 per cent by South Korea.

"Drug producers in China have been plagued by the inability to benefit from economies of scale, backward technology and financial problems," said Fan Hongzhe, general manager of China Medicinal Materials Company, a leading Chinese player in this field.

This not only limits global exports, but risks losing intellectual property rights to foreign companies.

Currently, nearly 40 kinds of traditional Chinese medical products have been patented in China by foreign companies, which use raw materials from China to produce advanced finished products which are sold back to China.

China's impending World Trade Organization entry, which will commit the country to axe tariffs, will make sales and applications for patents easier for foreign companies.

"Modernizing the traditional Chinese medicine industry will be the key to the industry's development," said She Jing, deputy minister of health.

Progress has been made. China recently completed an industrial shake-up by combining a number of companies into one industrial group to increase competitiveness.

The industrial restructuring will continue in the next few years to cut down on repetitive production and to strengthen exports, officials said.

A biannual festival on Chinese medicine will promote the industry to the public and allow business to trade ideas.

The Chinese Culture Festival on Traditional Chinese Medicine will soon be held in Tianjin, a major production hub for traditional Chinese medicine in China. The second festival will be held in 2003. By then, the first museum on the history of traditional Chinese medicine will have been opened in the city.
　　
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 11:27 pm