First National-Level Plan for the Protection of Traditional Chinese Medicinal Materials Issued

Strive to basically complete the protection and monitoring system for traditional Chinese medicinal materials by 2020, effectively ease the supply-demand imbalance of endangered traditional Chinese medicinal materials, and steadily develop the production of commonly used traditional Chinese medicinal materials; greatly raise the scientific and technological level of traditional Chinese medicinal materials and continuously improve quality; initially establish a modern production and circulation system for traditional Chinese medicinal materials, with sufficient product supply, stable market prices, and significantly improved levels of protection and development of traditional Chinese medicinal materials.

The General Office of the State Council announced on April 27 the "Plan for the Protection and Development of Traditional Chinese Medicinal Materials (2015—2020)." Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Mao Weiming said that this is China's first national-level plan on the protection and development of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, and it comprehensively plans for the protection of China's traditional Chinese medicinal material resources and the development of the traditional Chinese medicinal materials industry.

The "Plan" proposes striving to basically complete the protection and monitoring system for traditional Chinese medicinal materials by 2020, effectively ease the supply-demand imbalance of endangered traditional Chinese medicinal materials, and steadily develop the production of commonly used traditional Chinese medicinal materials. At the same time, greatly raise the scientific and technological level of traditional Chinese medicinal materials and continuously improve quality. Initially establish a modern production and circulation system for traditional Chinese medicinal materials, with sufficient product supply, stable market prices, and significantly improved levels of protection and development of traditional Chinese medicinal materials.

“We must promote protection through development and seek development through protection, reduce reliance on wild traditional Chinese medicinal materials through scientific development of traditional Chinese medicinal materials production, and achieve coordinated development of the sustainable development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry and ecological environmental protection.” Mao Weiming said.

“Specifically, we must vigorously promote the excavation of traditional techniques, scientific and technological innovation and the application of transformations, promote scientific cultivation and breeding of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, and reduce reliance on wild traditional Chinese medicinal material resources. We must also strengthen the awareness of quality first, improve the standard system for traditional Chinese medicinal materials, raise the level of standardization, large-scale production and industrialization of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, and ensure the market supply and quality of traditional Chinese medicinal materials.” Mao Weiming said.

Wang Guoqiang, Director of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, pointed out that traditional Chinese medicinal materials are the production raw materials of the traditional Chinese medicine industry, and China's protection and development of traditional Chinese medicinal materials faces severe challenges. On the one hand, due to the reduction of land resources and deterioration of the ecological environment, some wild traditional Chinese medicinal material resources have been lost and exhausted. On the other hand, the production technology for traditional Chinese medicinal materials is relatively backward, with emphasis on output rather than quality, and the abuse of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and growth regulators is relatively common, leading to a decline in the quality of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, affecting the quality and clinical efficacy of traditional Chinese medicine, and damaging the reputation of traditional Chinese medicine. In addition, because production and operation management is relatively extensive, supply and demand information exchange is not smooth, and price fluctuations are too large, the healthy development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry has also been hindered.

To solve these problems, the "Plan" proposes a series of specific targets in areas such as the protection of traditional Chinese medicinal material resources, the development of cultivation and breeding of traditional Chinese medicinal materials, and the strengthening of supervision over the production and circulation of traditional Chinese medicinal materials. These targets include: by 2020, the monitoring stations and technical information service network for traditional Chinese medicinal material resources will cover more than 80% of county-level traditional Chinese medicinal material production areas; 100 species of wild traditional Chinese medicinal materials included in the Pharmacopoeia of the People's Republic of China will be cultivated and bred; the output of cultivated and bred traditional Chinese medicinal materials will increase by an average of 10% annually; and the national sampling inspection coverage rate for the quality of traditional Chinese medicinal materials will reach 100%.

In order to protect wild traditional Chinese medicinal material resources, Mao Weiming introduced that a fourth national survey of traditional Chinese medicine resources will be carried out, a national dynamic monitoring network for traditional Chinese medicine resources will be established, and cultivation and breeding bases for endangered and scarce traditional Chinese medicinal materials, production bases for bulk high-quality traditional Chinese medicinal materials, and breeding bases for improved varieties of traditional Chinese medicinal materials will be built to develop the economy of traditional Chinese medicinal material production areas.