The export volume of Chinese medicine accounts for only 5% of the world is a false proposition

Why is it so difficult for traditional Chinese medicine to go abroad?

The impediment to export is due to westerners misunderstanding of traditional Chinese medicines. "All Chinese medicines that have been strictly approved by the state drug regulatory agency, whether they are Chinese herbal medicines, Chinese herbal medicines, or proprietary Chinese medicines, are all in compliance with relevant laws and regulations." State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine Wang Lian, spokesman of the press and director of the office, told reporters that “Chinese medicines that are sold domestically or exported overseas are in line with the national drug regulatory standards and are guaranteed in terms of quality.”

As for why traditional Chinese medicines are subject to warnings and bans on issues such as quality and safety overseas, Wang Lian said that this is due to the fact that the detection standards for Chinese medicines in foreign countries are different from those in China.

"Most Chinese herbs are extracted from natural and wild animals, plants, or minerals. They include ingredients that are beneficial to the human body, and it is inevitable that there will be some substances that will harm the human body." Wang Lian explained to China Economic Weekly Said, "The vast majority of Chinese medicine is based on prescriptions and compatibility. Individuals are blindly [4.96% financial reports] that Chinese herbal medicines contain toxic ingredients. Therefore, they cannot be taken alone and need to be combined with other Chinese medicines to enhance efficacy and reduce side effect."

Cao Hongxin, director of the Planning and Finance Department of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, explained the case of cinnabar. “Some countries have questioned our Chinese medicine contains mercury, which is actually a combination of mercury and cinnabar.” He pointed out that cinnabar is a mercury compound, and it is not a concept with mercury, Chinese medicine can not contain mercury, but there can be cinnabar.

"For thousands of years, cinnabar has been recognized as a soothing and illuminating target in Chinese curricula and pharmacopoeia. Some of Tongrentang's classic prescriptions also contain cinnabar, and this content is within the safe range of national pharmacopoeia." Cao Hongxin Say.

“Europe and the United States believe that Chinese medicine is food rather than medicine. They believe that the Chinese pharmacological institute should be non-toxic and harmless and can take it at random.” Yu Zhibin, deputy director of the Department of Chinese Medicine of the Chinese Medical and Health Products Import and Export Chamber of Commerce, told reporters, “In fact, Chinese medicine Like western medicines, they are medicines and they all need to be taken by a doctor. Blind use is harmful to the body."

In addition to gradually solving misunderstandings of traditional Chinese medicines in Western countries, Wang Lian also told reporters that in order to promote the smooth transition of Chinese medicine overseas, the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine will also step up efforts in the standardization of traditional Chinese medicine and establish a new one as soon as possible. Scientific, Chinese medicine standards that can meet international standards.

The European ban does not have much influence. Liu Zhanglin, deputy director of the China Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Chinese Medicines and Health Products, told reporters that the move to block the Chinese medicine in Britain was only a prelude to the suspension of Chinese patent medicines in European countries.

“The Directive on Traditional Plant Drugs Registration Procedures promulgated by the European Union in 2004 stipulates that if pharmaceutical companies can provide at least 30 years of medicinal history and their use history in the European Union for not less than 15 years, they can register and take drugs. Identified access to the EU market." Liu Zhanglin told the "China Economic Weekly" reporter.

“The statement made by the British Pharma Controls Bureau a few days ago is actually aimed at all non-registered botanicals, but not entirely on proprietary Chinese medicines.” However, Liu Zhanglin also pointed out that “because none of the Chinese companies currently pass this registration, other EU countries will The ban on sales of proprietary Chinese medicines will also be a general trend."

Liu Zhanglin said that the main reason for not registering Chinese companies is that the market size of proprietary Chinese medicines in Europe is limited and there is insufficient incentive for companies to apply.

Liu Zhanglin told reporters, "If you want to pass this registration, pharmaceutical companies need to spend at least a few million yuan registration fee, and drugs must comply with the local production quality management practices."

Liu Zhanglin told reporters that the cost of several million yuan is only the minimum cost that can be estimated. If the medicine meets the local management regulations, there will be no other costs, but for proprietary Chinese medicines with a complex composition, it is likely that there will be situations that do not meet local standards. If the pharmaceutical companies want to make corresponding adjustments, the amount spent will be It is difficult to estimate.

Liu Zhanglin said that the proportion of Chinese patent medicine exports to European and American countries is already very small, so the incentive for pharmaceutical companies to spend a lot of money to register in the EU countries is insufficient. He told reporters that in fact, the British directive to ban the sale of proprietary Chinese medicines has little effect on the actual export volume of Chinese medicine.

Guo Fanli, manager of China Investment Consulting Industry Research Department, told reporters: “At present, the overseas sales of listed companies of Chinese traditional medicine account for a relatively low proportion of total sales, which is less than 10%, and the main sales market is in Asia, so the British ban on China Pharmaceutical companies will not have much impact on their net profit."

However, Guo Fanli also pointed out that if other European and American countries follow suit to ban the sale of Chinese medicines, it will not be conducive to the development of Chinese pharmaceutical companies' overseas markets.

According to Zhibin, even though European countries are not large exporters of Chinese medicines, because these countries have just needed Chinese patent medicines, the UK FDA's ban on proprietary Chinese medicines may easily lead to the phenomenon of smuggling Chinese medicines. "A lot of these countries still very much recognize Chinese medicine. Although the country will no longer allow imports, they will still try to smuggling. In my opinion, this ban may be more detrimental to the British government's supervision of the Chinese patent medicine market."

Chinese medicine exports will not only account for 5% of the world's total

According to media reports, the export volume of Chinese medicine currently accounts for only 3% to 5% of the world's Chinese medicine market. This figure is even lower than our close neighbors Korea and Japan. In this regard, Yu Zhibin clearly responded to reporters: “First of all, I have never heard of the World Health Organization having such a statistic. In addition, I think this statistic itself is unscientific and it is simply a false proposition.”

"I have heard this number a few years ago. We will not discuss the authenticity of the data. This statistic has its own problems in terms of design." Yu Zhibin pointed out that "this Chinese medicine is only applicable to mainland China. In Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, Japanese and Korean medicines are called Kampo drugs. Therefore, if we count the world's traditional Chinese medicine market, it will not include Japanese and Korean medicines at all."

“In addition, I do not understand the significance of this statistic. This is like the statistics of the Chinese market's share of the Chinese medicine in the Chinese market. The result of such a formula will be very ugly.” Yu Zhibin told China Economic Weekly 》,

As for the share of Chinese medicine exports in the world market in the end, Yu Zhibin said that Chinese medicine includes traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces, Chinese herbal medicines, proprietary Chinese medicines, and other products. Due to the different calculation calibers of various countries, there is no unified and scientific official data in the world. . However, "Using the US market alone as an example, China's exports of Chinese medicine to the United States are much higher than Japan's exports of Chinese herbal drugs to the United States. If statistics are made on the exports of Chinese medicines, Kampo drugs, and herbal medicines in various countries, the proportion of Chinese medicine exports will definitely exceed 5% so little."