Multi-party joint efforts to promote traditional Chinese medicine to go abroad

Not long ago, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the Vision and Action for promoting the Joint Construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road (Vision and Action for short). Traditional Chinese medicine will usher in unprecedented opportunities for development. However, if Chinese herbal medicines want to go abroad smoothly, they are still faced with technical obstacles and trade barriers brought about by high standards. So, how to solve these obstacles and make traditional Chinese medicine go to the world?

Technical obstacles in overseas Trade of traditional Chinese Medicinal Materials

Yu Zhibin, director of the traditional Chinese Medicine Department of the China Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Medical and Health products, told me that from a global point of view, Western medicine is the mainstream in western countries, and the positioning of traditional Chinese medicine is traditional medicine, which is difficult to gain a foothold in the West. At present, the registration of traditional Chinese medicine in the European Union and the United States is restricted. At the legal level, the identity of traditional Chinese medicine has not been recognized in these countries. Kang Shumin, marketing manager of Liaoning Benxi Xiancaotang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. also said that the content requirements of Western medicine are different from those of traditional Chinese medicine, and the number of grams of ingredients in each medicine is limited. However, in terms of grams, the components of traditional Chinese medicine are more complex, the interaction between traditional Chinese medicine drugs, the content is uncertain, it is difficult to meet foreign standards.

High overseas standards form trade barriers

In recent years, the international requirements for heavy metals and pesticide residues have become more stringent, which has also caused great obstacles to the export of traditional Chinese medicine. In the process of the export of Chinese medicinal materials, the countries along the "Belt and Road Initiative" route not only have high requirements for the content of heavy metals in Chinese medicinal materials, but also have high standards in the medicinal properties of Chinese medicinal materials, which also hinders the export trade of traditional Chinese medicinal materials. Si Fuchun, member of the CPPCC National Committee and director of the Science and Technology Achievement Promotion Center of Henan College of traditional Chinese Medicine, told me that foreign countries have strict quality inspection standards for the import of traditional Chinese medicine, and some are even almost harsh, and many countries have many taboos on the ingredients of traditional Chinese medicine. various technical regulations make it difficult to register and certify traditional Chinese medicine. In essence, traditional Chinese medicine in the use of drug toxicity for treatment, is based on the existing experience to control the dosage, technically safe and reliable, to treat diseases.

Deepen understanding and eliminate technical obstacles

"to remove technical barriers, we not only need to communicate at a higher government level, but also need to widely spread the culture of traditional Chinese medicine, so that people in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative route recognize the culture of traditional Chinese medicine, and then identify with traditional Chinese medicine products." Yu Zhibin said.

Si Fuchun believes that the elimination of technical barriers requires certain changes in traditional Chinese medicine itself. First, the language of traditional Chinese medicine should be modernized to deepen the Western understanding of the connotation of traditional Chinese medicine and strive to eliminate cultural differences. Second, the country needs to do a good job in the standardization and digitization of the ingredients and efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine, formulate new standards for the extraction of effective components of traditional Chinese medicine, and build a leading digital advanced manufacturing platform for modern traditional Chinese medicine that meets the requirements of international standards. upgrade domestic standards to international standards to make them modern products that meet the needs of the city.

Multi-parties work together to break through barriers

It takes a good blacksmith to make good steel. the high standard of foreign exports of traditional Chinese medicine and proprietary Chinese medicine to China, of course, creates trade barriers, but at the same time, it also forces our traditional Chinese medicine enterprises to improve the quality of traditional Chinese medicine and proprietary Chinese medicine.

Si Fuchun suggested that in the light of the quality of various professional markets of traditional Chinese medicine, the state should carry out a regional pilot demonstration of the third-party inspection of traditional Chinese medicine, focusing on subsidizing the laboratory construction, technical and service capacity cultivation, and personnel introduction and training of a number of third-party inspection institutions, so as to form a number of scientific and technological service enterprises with professional service capabilities for the testing of traditional Chinese medicine. At the same time, promote the research and application of technical standards of traditional Chinese medicine, and improve the quality control standard system of traditional Chinese medicine in planting, processing, circulation and other links.