Eight Departments: A preliminary formation of a collaborative system across the entire traditional Chinese medicine industry chain by 2030

Securities Times Reporter Han Zhongnan

On February 5th, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the State Administration of Financial Supervision, and six other departments jointly issued the “Implementation Plan for High-Quality Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry (2026–2030)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”). The Plan clarifies development goals, key tasks, and safeguard measures for the next five years, promoting comprehensive upgrades across the entire traditional Chinese medicine industry chain.

The Plan sets clear core development objectives by 2030 and outlines a path for high-quality development of the traditional Chinese medicine industry. By then, a collaborative development system for the entire industry chain will be initially formed, with continuous enhancement of key medicinal raw material supply capacity, and significant improvements in digital intelligence and greenization levels.

Specifically, by 2030, 60 high-standard medicinal raw material production bases will be cultivated, five innovation centers for traditional Chinese medicine industry integrity and innovation will be established, a batch of innovative Chinese medicines will be approved for market launch, 10 new major Chinese medicine varieties will be cultivated, 10 industry standards related to digital intelligence technology in the industry will be drafted or revised, 20 typical cases of digital transformation and upgrading will be released, and 20 smart factories and 10 green factories will be built.

To ensure the achievement of these goals, the Plan deploys six major key actions and 15 specific tasks, focusing on precise efforts across all links of the industry chain. In raw material security, it implements actions to improve quality and stabilize supply, guiding leading enterprises to build high-standard medicinal raw material bases in main production areas, supporting the construction of primary processing plants at the origin, promoting automation production lines and “shared workshops,” and accelerating the drafting or revision of medicinal material quality standards, as well as researching the conservation and substitution of rare medicinal resources.

Innovation is the core driver of industrial upgrading. The Plan proposes implementing coordinated innovation initiatives, integrating innovation resources from enterprises, universities, and research institutions, establishing centers for integrity and innovation in traditional Chinese medicine industry, and creating a collaborative model involving renowned doctors, hospitals, universities, and enterprises. Additionally, it encourages the application of artificial intelligence, big data, and other technologies to empower new drug development, breaking through technical bottlenecks in efficacy component identification and formula optimization, promoting innovation and reform of already marketed Chinese patent medicines, and transforming traditional Chinese medicine preparations in medical institutions into innovative drugs to cultivate new productive forces in the industry.

Regarding manufacturing capacity enhancement, the Plan emphasizes promoting intensive production of Chinese medicine decoction pieces, improving quality standard systems, and accelerating the digital intelligence and green transformation of Chinese medicine manufacturing. It aims to optimize the entire process quality traceability system, ensuring that the sources of Chinese medicine products are traceable, processes are monitorable, and destinations are verifiable. For the development of ethnic medicines, it implements an ethnic medicine industry revitalization initiative, exploring resource advantages, improving quality control systems, promoting modernization of ethnic medicine industries, and cultivating well-known ethnic medicine brands.

Furthermore, the Plan also includes actions to promote famous Chinese medicine products and cultivate excellent enterprises by strengthening brand protection, developing leading Chinese patent medicines and decoction pieces, fostering cross-sector integration of “Chinese medicine +,” and expanding health products; it advocates for tiered cultivation of leading enterprises and high-quality small and medium-sized enterprises, supporting companies in expanding international markets, participating in the formulation and revision of international standards for Chinese medicine, and enhancing the global influence of Chinese medicine brands.

(Edited by: Wang Zhiqiang HF013)

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