China plans to modernize traditional medicine
Nature Vol446/5 April 2007
BEIJIN
China has announced an ambitious attempt to bring the ancient practice of

traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) into line with modern standards. The government says it will expend basic and clinical research,and improve the testing and developing of TCM remedies for export. But critics question whether the research will meet the scientific standards necessary for international recognition.

Although China has invested in TCM before,the 15-years plan involves a change

of direction and will receive significantly more money. The project is backed by 16 Chinese ministries,spearheaded by the Ministry of Science and Technology(M

OST),the Ministry of Health and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese

Medicine(SATCM).

Zou lian-qiang,director of MOST's health and biotechnology division,says

the government has earmarked billion yuan(US$130 million) for TCM research and development,with the total budget over the next five years increasing to at least 5-6 times as much as the previous total of 740 million yuan.

Ina country where most of the population is not covered by the public healthcare

system and cannot afford to go to hospital,there is also a tenfold increase in money for the TCM-related part of the public healthcare system to 8.5 billion yuan.

Chinese medicine,which has served the Chinese people since antiquity,still

has an important role in today's healthcare,especially in areas where people do not have access to,or could not afford,treatments based on Western medicine,

says YuWen-ming deputy director of SATCM.
The initiative comes after heated discussions on TCM throughout China.Last

year,Zhang Gong-yao,a scholar at the Central South University in Changsha,Human

Farewell to Traditional Chinese Medicine

in the Chinese journal Medicine and Philosophy(27,14-17;2006).Zhang argued that TCM is a pseudoscience and should not be part of public healthcare and research.

All sides of the argument have been keenly awaiting the government's stance,and

it has come down firmly in favour of promoting TCM as a science. China is desperate to earn regulatory