Oct. 18, 1998 – In 1996, sales of prepared products of traditional Chinese pharmacopoeia reached US $ 3.7 billion, according to Zhang Wenkang, Chinese Minister of Health and director of the Government Office of Traditional Chinese Medicines.
The minister, who was speaking at a recent convention on the development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in Beijing, said the Chinese government is encouraging the establishment of large TCM pharmaceutical companies through mergers and acquisitions. In 1998, 13 of the top 50 companies manufacturing TCM drugs were listed on various Chinese stock exchanges. It is estimated that 5 of these companies will achieve an annual sales level of between US $ 240 million and US $ 360 million by the year 2000.
Currently 14 TCM pharmaceutical companies have passed Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) testing from the Australian and German governments. The standardization and quality control that necessarily accompany BFDs can only have a stimulating effect on the exports of medicines derived from TCM which have often been the subject of criticism in the West.
The Chinese government explicitly aims to create a multinational traditional Chinese medicine with sales of US $ 1 billion by the year 2010.
HealthPassport.net
According to Herbal Gram, Summer 1998, no: 43
