A dose of TCM served up and promoted at ongoing CIFTIS
Traditional Chinese medicine experts discussed its inheritance, innovation and development at a recent forum to promote its service trade, especially in the countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.
During the fifth China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services, a variety of activities revolving around TCM have taken place from Monday to Thursday, including a forum for international think tanks, the TCM Service Day, a global conference on trade in services, an international forum on the development of healthcare tourism and a meeting focusing on Beijing’s trade in services and cultural exchanges.
“TCM is a business card of CIFTIS as it has particularly unique Chinese characteristics in the service trade,” said Tu Zhitao, head of the Beijing Administration of TCM.
TCM is not just a health resource, but also a resource related to economy, culture, technological innovation and eco-friendliness, he said.
In 2016, the administration cooperated with Spain to initiate an intergovernmental project aimed at setting up the European TCM Development and Promotion Center.
Zhang Xiangyong, director of the center, said the program represents the national interest of promoting TCM’s development abroad.
There are many legal problems in the development of TCM overseas, which requires government aid, Zhang said.
“Westerners haven’t fully accepted TCM certifications and practice qualifications. Thus we are exploring an approach to integrating TCM with Western medical services, in a bid to realize dialogue between the two sides,” he said.
Beijing officials signed an agreement with their Spanish counterparts at the 2017 Belt and Road Initiative Summit in Beijing to establish a TCM industrial park in Barcelona and facilitate TCM development in the fields of education, medical treatment and culture.
Barcelona is a vibrant city with a sound international market environment and is an economic and tourism center that attracts businesses and high-level professionals, Zhang said.
“TCM enjoys high popularity in the overseas market, as foreign customers want to receive TCM education and services,” he said.
To date, the two cities have cooperated to create a twoyear master’s degree program run by Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, the University of Barcelona and Popeu Fabra University.
As a project under the Belt and Road Initiative, the two sides will strive to deepen cooperation to raise the exposure of TCM in overseas countries and regions, Zhang said.
In addition, the Beijing Commission of Health and Family Planning and the Beijing Diplomat Service held a bilingual regimen forum to spread the TCM philosophy and provide services on Wednesday as part of CIFTIS.
“We have upgraded the forum this year by inviting ambassadors and delegates from countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative to experience TCM services and participate in related interactive activities,” said Feng Chuanyou, head of the TCM department of the commission.
Beijing’s Sanlitun community health service center in Chaoyang district signed an agreement with the ambassadors to offer TCM services as family doctors, Feng said.
TCM developments in such fields as tourism, the growing of medicinal herbs and the achievements in technological research are also being demonstrated at the TCM exhibition area of CIFTIS.
A visitor learns about a device that can perform the traditional Chinese therapy of moxibustion at the ongoing China Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services.