The 2002 International Conference on the Modernization of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) will be held on November 3-5 in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan province.
The conference aimed to promote the standardization of TCM production and quality criteria, develop a modern TCM industry, and improve TCM research, an official with the Ministry of Science and Technology (MST) said Monday.
He said the theme of the conference would be "TCM and human health". The topics would cover policies on traditional Chinese medicine, TCM resources and its sustainable utilization, TCM's perfection, standardization, modernization and curative effects, the relation between innovation, modern science and technology and TCM modernization, and forums on national, folk and traditional TCM industries.
"In the 21st century, the rapid development of bioscience and the rising 'back to nature' trend offer a wide market for TCM," the official said.
Statistics show that the worldwide use of natural medicines has grown at 15 percent annually since 1990. The TCM industry has attracted intense attention from the academic and industrial circles and the government.
The conference, said to be the largest since the founding of new China, was jointly organized by the MST, the Ministry of Health, the State Drug Administration, the State Administration of TCM, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Sichuan provincial government.
Senior officials from the United Nations, World Health Organization, and foreign science and health departments would attend the conference.
An exhibition of new technology and new products of modern TCM would also be held during the conference.
(Xinhua News Agency July 30, 2002)
