BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) -- China aims to advance the inheritance and innovation of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) as part of a new five-year plan for TCM development.
A pharmacist dispenses Chinese herbal medicine for a patient at the pharmacy of Tong Ren Tang clinic in Qianmen of Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 25, 2025. (Photo: Xinhua)
The plan also calls for improving high-quality TCM service networks, enhancing whole-life-cycle health care capabilities, and promoting the high-quality integration of TCM and Western medicine, among other key tasks.
The plan was jointly released by the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the National Development and Reform Commission.
By 2030, TCM is expected to achieve breakthroughs in addressing some major health challenges, including cardiovascular and cerebrovascular conditions, cancer, kidney disorders and infectious diseases, according to the plan.
Grassroots TCM services will also be upgraded and basic research capabilities significantly strengthened over the next five years, with TCM services made accessible to all, the plan notes.
The plan also calls for further developing TCM culture and enhancing its international influence.
The plan, additionally, aims to strengthen TCM's geriatric and pediatric care capacity, while encouraging TCM hospitals to establish mental health and sleep clinics.
It calls for developing TCM medical institutions and strengthening TCM departments in remote areas, including ethnic medicine services, within general hospitals.
The plan is formulated against the backdrop of China's population aging, low birth rate, and a growing convergence of multiple disease threats and health risk factors, said a joint statement released by the two authorities. It also responds to rising public demand for more comprehensive and higher-quality healthcare services.
Under the plan, China will strengthen the role of TCM in disease prevention and health promotion, integrating its philosophy of preventive treatment into the entire healthcare process, while also enhancing TCM's capacity in clinical diagnosis, treatment and emergency medical response.
It also aims to explore and promote TCM-based rehabilitation for chronic, occupational and endemic diseases.
In the field of basic research, China will seek to clarify the mechanisms through which TCM prevents and treats diseases, and strengthen scientific and technological innovation in the sector, according to the plan.
Measures to advance the development of TCM also cover the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal resources. These include revising regulations governing the protection and management of wild medicinal material resources as well as medicinal plant seeds.
The plan says China will further expand opening up in the TCM sector, encourage the industry to play a more active role in global health governance, and deepen international exchanges and mutual learning.
According to the joint statement, China made a series of breakthroughs in promoting the inheritance, innovation and development of TCM during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025).
By the end of 2025, TCM outpatient and inpatient visits had reached 1.82 billion annually, and the number of beds in public TCM hospitals had risen to 0.82 per 1,000 people.