Traditional Chinese medicine unleashes hidden potential

[Photo by Wang Jiankang/Asianewsphoto]

More and more people have accepted and tried TCM in Canada, Netherlands and Britain, thanks in part to frequent academic exchanges and effort by overseas Chinese.

In late June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Kanglaite, an anticancer drug with active ingredients extracted from coix seed, for phase III clinical trials.

Kanglaite has been proven to have significant effects on middle or late-stage malignancies of pancreatic, lung and liver cancers. Once the phase III trial is passed, it could become the third medicine derived from TCM to enter the Western pharmacopeia following artemisinin, and ephedrine, a stimulant and decongestant derived from Mahuang.

With increasingly growing government funding and support, TCM is a booming industry in China, with a total value of 500 billion yuan ($78.3 billion) in 2013, a third of the total output of the country's medical industry.

China published a five-year plan in May to promote TCM by increasing its role in the national healthcare system and making TCM products and services more competitive abroad. It also set the goal that each city and county should have at least one public TCM hospital.

There is no doubt that Tu's achievement will promote TCM globally, and that the heritage passed down from Chinese ancestors will bring more gifts to the world.