Healthcare practitioners across the globe wanting to dispense Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) soon will have to undergo standardized training initiated by the Chinese.

The World Standard of Chinese Medicine Undergraduate Education was issued yesterday by the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies, headquartered in Beijing.

The nonbinding standard applies for higher education institutions of TCM worldwide, and is the first in the field.

"It will benefit hundreds of thousands of would-be TCM doctors across the world who are studying the time-honored medical practice through standardized education of higher quality," said She Jing, who heads the federation, which has nearly 300,000 members in 186 countries and regions.

Currently, more than 300,000 international students are receiving TCM education in hundreds of institutions throughout the world, statistics of the State Administration of TCM showed.

As TCM is becoming more popular with foreigners, TCM training institutions are springing up internationally. Advocates said that past experience proves TCM to be safe, effective, easy and cost-efficient.

However, many students lack proper and scientific guidance, and that seriously affects the quality of TCM education, said Zhang Boli, president of the Tianjin University of TCM, who led the process in creating the standard.

The basic knowledge of TCM and its clinical practice needs to be substantially improved in education programs, particularly outside of China, Zhang told China Daily.

Previously, many TCM training institutions outside China were run by specialists from Japan and South Korea, making the standards more aligned with the two nations rather than China's standard, he said.

The latest standard, which prescribes essential requirements for TCM education, will also help promote TCM in the world and improve its healthy development, said Sang Binsheng, who heads the international cooperation department of the State Administration of TCM.

Foreign countries would finetune the standard in line with their conditions, she said.

The curriculum requirement in the standard is more tailored for international students, she noted.

For example, the standard includes a course in traditional Chinese culture, which helps international students better understand TCM, she added.