Revenues of the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) industry have grown 20 percent annually in the past decade, and are now three times higher than in 1996, said a health official.

With total earnings of 95 billion yuan (about US$ 11.8 billion), the TCM industry accounted for more than a quarter of China's overall medical industry in 2005," said Vice-Health Minister She Jing at an ongoing national conference on TCM science.

She, also director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said the Chinese government has invested 740 million yuan (US$ 92.5 million) in the Traditional Chinese Medicine research sector over the past five years,

TCM experts have collected and copied more than 1,100 ancient medical books and records, and recovered more than 200 ancient books from overseas.

China has built a TCM database system based on all known ancient TCM literature, which can be consulted via internet. A series of regulations on standard TCM techniques and the evaluation of cures have been published recently, She said. Many provincial governments have set up TCM research centers and key laboratories.

China currently has about 3,000 traditional medicine hospitals that dispense medical treatment to nearly 234 million people each year.

Last year, China exported a record US$ 830 million worth of traditional medicines to 164 countries and regions.

She said TCM clinical research should be further strengthened so that 100 kinds of standard TCM treatment techniques can be made available to urban communities and rural areas in 2010.

(Xinhua News Agency November 10, 2006)