Twenty six experts and representatives from health administrations and medicine enterprises in Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, Vietnam, as well as China's Taiwan and Hong Kong, will deliver speeches over the next three days on how to better develop the traditional Chinese medicine industry.

Meanwhile, more than 250 research organizations and pharmaceutical enterprises from home and abroad are to showcase their latest findings and products and outline their investment directions.

Liang Gongqing, vice-governor of Yunnan, said a state-level traditional Chinese medicine production base was to be built in Yunnan to exploit its rich natural resources, and the provincial government has planned to develop the medicine industry as an economic pillar. Previously, the tobacco industry had been the province's only economic backbone.

Since 2001, the central and provincial governments have jointly invested about 2.2 billion yuan (US$265.1 million) in the province's medicine industry, topping investment in that of other provinces.

The province's 170 medicine enterprises all realized a 27 percent year-on-year increase over the past ten years, surpassing the national average growth rate of 20 percent and the international average of six to eight percent.

But the country needs an international-level quality standard for medicines and improvements in production management.

In addition, explaining the pharmacological effects of traditional Chinese medicine to Westerners is another major challenge.

(Xinhua News Agency October 14, 2002)