Chinese Medicinal Herbs Exports Still Face Obstacles; Multiple Parties Join Forces to Break Down Barriers
On the ancient Silk Road, China's traditional Chinese medicine relieved the suffering of disease for the people of the countries along the route and made outstanding contributions to the spread of Chinese national culture.
Not long ago, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the "Vision and Actions on Jointly Building the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road" (referred to as the "Vision and Actions"). In the implementation of the "Vision and Actions", Chinese medicinal herbs will regain their former glory, play a new role and embrace unprecedented development opportunities.
However, for Chinese medicinal herbs to successfully go abroad, they still face thresholds such as technical obstacles and trade barriers created by high standards. So how can these obstacles be resolved so that traditional Chinese medicine can go global with the help of the “Belt and Road”?
Technical Obstacles in Overseas Trade of Chinese Medicinal Herbs
Yu Zhibin, director of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Department of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Medicines and Health Products, told reporters that from a global perspective, in Western countries, Western medicine is the mainstream, while traditional Chinese medicine is positioned as traditional medicine and is very difficult to establish a foothold in the West. At present, the registration of traditional Chinese medicine is restricted in both the European Union and the United States, and at the legal level, the identity of traditional Chinese medicine has not been recognized in these countries.
As for the reasons, Si Fuchun, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and director of the Science and Technology Achievement Promotion Center of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, believes that this is because traditional Chinese medicine emphasizes treatment based on syndrome differentiation and compound formulas, while Western medicine focuses on targeted locking, adopts analytical methods and concentrates treatment; Western medicine emphasizes quantitative research, while traditional Chinese medicine cannot clearly explain its component composition, making it very difficult for traditional Chinese medicine culture to be effectively understood and applied. It has long hovered on the margins overseas and finds it hard to enter the mainstream medical market.
Kang Shumin, marketing manager of Liaoning Benxi Xiancaotang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., also told reporters that the content requirements for Western medicine are different from those for traditional Chinese medicine. In Western medicine, the gram amount of each ingredient in every medicine is prescribed. For example, for paracetamol containing acetaminophen tablets, the Western medicine standard requires that each paracetamol tablet contain 0.25 mg of acetaminophen tablets, so every paracetamol tablet must contain exactly this gram amount of acetaminophen tablets. But in terms of gram amounts, the components of traditional Chinese medicine are relatively complex, the medicines interact with one another, and the content is uncertain, making it very difficult to meet foreign standards.
Overseas High Standards Create Trade Barriers
In recent years, international requirements for heavy metals and pesticide residues have become increasingly strict, which has also created relatively large obstacles for the export of traditional Chinese medicine.
Yu Zhibin revealed that, from the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine products themselves, Japan and South Korea are using high standards for heavy metal content requirements to restrict the export of China's Chinese medicinal herbs. In addition, some unofficial organizations such as Greenpeace and animal protection groups are also using excuses such as destroying nature and killing endangered animals to influence and restrict the export of China's Chinese medicinal herbs, setting up barriers for the export of China's Chinese medicinal herbs.
In the process of exporting Chinese medicinal herbs, besides imposing high-standard requirements on the heavy metal content of Chinese medicinal herbs, the countries along the “Belt and Road” also have very high standards for the medicinal properties of Chinese medicinal herbs, which similarly hinders the export trade of Chinese medicinal herbs.
Si Fuchun told reporters that foreign countries have strict quality inspection standards for the import of traditional Chinese medicine, some even almost harsh. Many countries have many taboos regarding the components of traditional Chinese medicine, and various technical regulations make the registration and certification of traditional Chinese medicine difficult. In essence, when traditional Chinese medicine uses the toxicity of medicines for treatment, it controls the dosage based on existing experience and is technically safe and reliable in order to treat diseases. For example, realgar contains mercury, and mercury itself is toxic, but an appropriate amount of mercury can indeed effectively treat diseases. However, from the perspective of Western medicine, in terms of chemical composition, realgar is simply a toxic effect, and barriers are set up on this basis according to rules.
Deepen Understanding to Eliminate Technical Obstacles
“To eliminate technical obstacles and make the countries along the ‘Belt and Road’ recognize traditional Chinese medicine, it is necessary not only to communicate at a higher government level, but also to widely spread traditional Chinese medicine culture so that the people of the countries along the ‘Belt and Road’ recognize traditional Chinese medicine culture and thereby recognize traditional Chinese medicine products,” Yu Zhibin said. “When eliminating technical obstacles, we cannot rely only on verbal persuasion. Traditional Chinese medicine needs to have tangible therapeutic effects so that those who have tried it can be relieved of their illnesses.”
Si Fuchun believes that eliminating technical obstacles requires traditional Chinese medicine itself to make certain changes. First, the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine language, so that scientists and doctors in different fields in the West can all read and understand traditional Chinese medicine, deepen Western understanding of the connotations of traditional Chinese medicine, and strive to eliminate obstacles caused by cultural differences. Second, the state needs to do a good job in standardizing and digitalizing the components and therapeutic effects of traditional Chinese medicine, formulate new standards for the extraction of active ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine, build a modern digital advanced manufacturing platform for traditional Chinese medicine that meets international standards and is leading domestically, upgrade domestic standards into international standards, and make it a modern product that meets market demand.
Multiple Parties Join Forces to Break Through Barriers
To forge iron, one must be strong oneself. The high standards of foreign countries for China's exported Chinese medicinal herbs and Chinese patent medicines certainly create trade barriers, but at the same time they also force China's traditional Chinese medicine enterprises to improve the quality of Chinese medicinal herbs and Chinese patent medicines. “To go global with the help of the ‘Belt and Road’, in addition to needing preferential and favorable policies, enterprises must also do solid work and strengthen quality management, so that the products they produce have very definite therapeutic effects and the products going out are all high-quality products,” Kang Shumin said. “Once enterprises have laid a solid foundation, when they encounter development opportunities again, they can smoothly break through barriers and quickly get their products out.”
To break through foreign high-standard trade barriers against Chinese medicinal herbs, in addition to requiring enterprises to do a good job in quality management, the state also needs to formulate some policies to promote the development of Chinese medicinal herbs toward international standards, so that they can better enter the pharmaceutical markets of the countries along the “Belt and Road”.
Si Fuchun suggested that, in light of the quality conditions of various specialized markets for Chinese medicinal herbs, the state carry out regional pilot demonstrations of third-party inspection of Chinese medicinal herbs, focus on funding the laboratory construction, technical and service capacity cultivation, and talent introduction and training of a group of third-party inspection institutions, and form a group of science and technology service enterprises with professional service capabilities for testing Chinese medicinal herbs. At the same time, promote the research and application of technical standards for Chinese medicinal herbs, and improve the quality control standard system for Chinese medicinal herbs in links such as planting, processing and circulation.