China has found great scope for expanding medical cooperation with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states as traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) gains greater global recognition.

The Yunnan Baiyao, a famous medicine used for reactivating blood circulation and alleviating pain, has been registered for sale in Thailand.

An enterprise affiliated to the Yunnan Medical Group is negotiating with its counterpart in Viet Nam to enter the market there.

Long Jiang, general manager of the Yunnan Medical Group, attributed bigger sales of Chinese medicine in Southeast Asia to the legalization of TCM in ASEAN and a better environment for its export.

Thai medical authorities approved the treatment of diseases with TCM and therapy in a regulation issued in June 2000 and consented to the legal import of Chinese medicine.

Sales of TCM in Indonesia average US$11 million annually. The per capita consumption of TCM in Viet Nam has increased tenfold during the past decade.

Australia was the first Western country to legalize TCM. The European Union has drafted a code on the management of herbal medicine, and Canada has brought the import of TCM in line with its overall import system on herbal medicine.

Meanwhile, China's Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation issued standards in 2001 on the import and export of plants for medical use and preparation, which approach internationally acknowledged export standards. This has won recognition from a growing number of countries.

China exported US$483 million worth of TCM in the first three quarters of last year, up by 21.9 percent over the same period in 2001. China's exports to ASEAN totaled US$55.3 million in the first half of last year, the majority of which was TCM.

Long said much room exists for cooperation between Chinese medical firms and ASEAN in terms of medicine development, production and trade.

(Xinhua News Agency February 12, 2003)