China makes TCM development a national strategy: white paper

China has made the development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) a national strategy, said a white paper issued on Tuesday.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) and the government have granted greater importance to the development of TCM, and made a series of major policy decisions and adopted a number of plans in this regard since the CPC's 18th National Congress in 2012, said the document titled "Traditional Chinese Medicine in China", which was released by the State Council Information Office.

In 2015, the executive meeting of the State Council approved the draft Law on Traditional Chinese Medicine and submitted it to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation and approval, intending to provide a sounder policy environment and legal basis for TCM development.

In 2016, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the Outline of the Healthy China 2030 Plan, a guide to improving the health of the Chinese people in the coming 15 years. It sets out a series of tasks and measures to implement the program and develop TCM.

In the same year, the State Council issued the Outline of the Strategic Plan on the Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine (2016-2030), which made TCM development a national strategy, with systemic plans for TCM development in the new era.

"These decisions and plans have mapped out a grand blueprint that focuses on the full revitalization of TCM, accelerated reform of the medical and healthcare system, the building of a medical and healthcare system with Chinese characteristics, and the advancement of the healthy China plan, thus ushering in a new era of development for TCM," the white paper said.