The “2019 Traditional Medicine International Cooperation Forum (Macao, China)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Forum”) co-hosted by the Macao Special Administrative Region Government and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the People’s Republic of China, and coordinated by the Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park of Co-operation between Guangdong and Macao (hereinafter referred to as “GMTCM Park”) kicked off today (25 September) at The Venetian Macao. More than 700 people from Mainland China, Macao, the European Union, ASEAN and Portuguese-speaking countries and regions participated in the Forum to discuss the cooperation and development of traditional medicine.
Under the theme of “Sharing Achievements of Traditional Medicine, Deepening International Exchange and Cooperation”, attending guests will carry out in-depth discussion and exchange on policy support, development opportunities, technology research and development, market expansion, and investment & financing. At the opening ceremony, a signing ceremony was held on the projects between GMTCM Park and international institutions, enterprises and universities. On 26 September, the Forum will present the Investment and Financing Forum, Business Matching Forum and Scientific and Technological Achievements Sharing Forum, bringing the development discussion, achievements application and resource matching of the traditional Chinese medicine and healthcare industries to a deeper level.
Guests from around the world convene at the forum on traditional medicine whose development has received world attention
The honored guests present at the opening ceremony of the Forum included Mr. Chui Sai On, Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region; Mr. Fu Ziying, Director-General of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR; Dr. Arlindo Nascimento do Rosário, Minister of Health and Social Security of Cape Verde; Dr. Edgar Neves, Minister of Health of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe; Mr. Huang Liuquan, Deputy Head of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council; Ms. Wang Dong, Deputy Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Macao SAR; Mr. José Manuel Vieira Dias da Cunha, Secretary of State for Public Health of the Republic of Angola; Mr. Zhang Guangjun, Vice Governor of the People's Government of Guangdong Province; Mr. Wang Guoqiang, former Deputy Director of the then National Health and Family Planning Commission, former Director of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and current President of China Association of Chinese Medicine; Mr. Leong Vai Tac, Secretary for Economy and Finance of the Macao SAR Government; Ms. Felisbela Gaspar, National Director of Traditional and Alternative Medicine of the Ministry of Health of Mozambique; Mr. Yao Yisheng, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Zhuhai Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of Zhuhai Municipal People’s Government; Ms. Lu Hong, Adviser to the Office of the Secretary for Economy and Finance of the Macao SAR Government, and President and CEO of the Guangdong-Macao Traditional Chinese Medicine Technology Industrial Park Development Co., Ltd., etc.
In his speech, Mr. Leong Vai Tac, Secretary for Economic and Finance of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government, said that Macao’s current adequate economic diversification has ushered in unprecedented major development opportunities and broad development space. As one of the emerging industries to promote the adequately diversified economy in Macao, traditional Chinese medicine is highly valued by the SAR Government regarding its industrialization and international development. As Macao’s important carrier to develop the traditional Chinese medicine industry, GMTCM Park has entered a new stage of development, and the atmosphere of innovation and research & development of traditional Chinese medicine has taken initial shape. Taking advantage of the role of Macao as a commercial and trade cooperation service platform and bridge between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, GMTCM Park will help domestic and foreign outstanding enterprises and products “go global and bring in investment” through Macao. Having been held five consecutive times in Macao, the Forum is one of the important contents of GMTCM Park to play a platform role. It has achieved certain results in terms of brand establishment and resource matching. In the future, it is hoped to further give play to the functions of GMTCM Park to jointly promote the quality development of the traditional medicine industry, and help standardize and internationalize traditional medicine products and services.
Mr. Zhang Guangjun, Vice Governor of Guangdong Province, remarked that traditional Chinese medicine is a unique health resource, an economic resource with huge potentials, a scientific and technological resource with original advantages, an excellent cultural resource and a pivotal ecological resource in China. Guangdong has always attached great importance to the work of traditional Chinese medicine. The exchanges and cooperation between Guangdong and Macao in the field of traditional Chinese medicine are becoming increasingly closer and frequent, and great achievements have been made. In the future, Guangdong Province will, as always, give priority to the cooperation between Guangdong and Macao in the field of traditional Chinese medicine, so that traditional Chinese medicine, a treasure of Chinese civilization, can truly benefit the people of both places. It is hoped that the traditional Chinese medicine industry in Guangdong and Macao will further collaborate towards seeking a new blueprint for its inheritance, opening, innovation and development in the new era. By using the construction of GMTCM Park as a springboard, we should promote the upgrading of the traditional Chinese medicine industry, support the adequate diversification development of Macao’s economy, facilitate the industrialization and modernization of traditional Chinese medicine, and make TCM go global.
Mr. Arlindo Nascimento do Rosário, Minister of Health and Social Security of Cape Verde, noted that the Ministry of Health and Social Security of Cape Verde signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with GMTCM Park in May this year, whereby the first edition of training in TCM characteristic therapies was held for the first time in Cape Verde, with approximately 50 health professionals receiving training. He thanked the Macao SAR Government, especially GMTCM Park, for its support for Cape Verde. The Government of Cape Verde will take this Forum as an opportunity to jointly work with the Macao SAR Government and GMTCM Park, striving to deepen and broaden their cooperation in traditional Chinese medicine.
Mr. Wang Guoqiang, former Deputy Director of the then National Health and Family Planning Commission, former Director of the then State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and current Chairman of the China Association of Chinese Medicine, noted that General Secretary Xi Jinping made a special trip to GMTCM Park for inspection last October. The forum held this year is to showcase Macao’s achievements in implementing General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions towards attainment of an adequately diversified economic growth through traditional Chinese medicine. It is also a tribute presented by the health and TCM industries in Macao with their solidarity, innovation and hard work to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of China and the 20th anniversary of Macao’s return to the motherland. Over the past decade, with the great attention of the Macao SAR Government, the promotion efforts of Chief Executive Chui Sai On, and the close cooperation and strong support of relevant state departments, traditional Chinese medicine has become an important force that greatly benefits the population and safeguards the health of Macao residents. He believes that traditional Chinese medicine in Macao will surely pave the way towards a broader development space, a bright future, and make greater contributions for the purpose of building a healthy Macao.
At the opening ceremony, Ms. Lu Hong, Adviser to the Office of the Secretary for Economy and Finance of the Macao SAR Government, and President and CEO of the GuangdongMacao Traditional Chinese Medicine Technology Industrial Park Development Co., Ltd., introduced the progress made in the work of GMTCM Park. She said that after rapid advancement in recent years, the construction of various sections of GMTCM Park has achieved important milestones. In terms of the construction of a public service platform, the only public service platform in China that has obtained both a Chinese GMP certificate and an EU-GMP certificate has been established, and significant progress has been made in the introduction of innovative elements of traditional Chinese medicine and the creation of an industrial development atmosphere. In terms of international exchange and cooperation, it has successfully helped six traditional Chinese medicine products including those from Macao enterprises register overseas, and promoted the cooperation mode of “promoting medicine through practice” to other Portuguese-speaking countries such as Cape Verde, realizing a major breakthrough in the promotion of TCM culture and techniques in Portuguese-speaking countries and beyond. GMTCM Park has also fostered a carrier of the traditional Chinese medicine industry—the Industrial Incubation Zone—which is attracting more and more enterprises, and the industrial development atmosphere is becoming increasingly strong, gradually forming a development cluster. With this series of work in place, GMTCM Park has always been committed to serving the society and the residents of Macao and creating favorable conditions and space for the development of traditional Chinese medicine-related enterprises and talents from Macao. It will continue to bring new vitality and liveliness to the development of Macao and create greater economic and social benefits for the city.
Building a bridge to boost the development of the traditional medicine industry
This year marks the 20th anniversary of Macao’s return to the motherland. GMTCM Park, as a significant carrier of the development of traditional Chinese medicine industry in Macao, has provided a favorable environment and advantageous conditions for promoting high quality TCM products and techniques in and out of China to “go global and bring in investment”. Moreover, the forum has brought about opportunities for welcoming the 20th anniversary of Macao’s return to China as well as presenting the preliminary achievements of the development of emerging industries in Macao.
At the opening ceremony of the Forum, in the presence of Mr. Chui Sai On, Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region and other officiating guests, the Launch Ceremony of the Transformation Base of TCM Scientific and Technological Achievements in the Greater Bay Area and Alliance Ceremony of the AMIGO Alliance of International Youth TCM Practitioners were initiated. At the same time, GMTCM Park signed deals with Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings Limited, Tasly Group and Zhongguancun Private Equity & Venture Capital Association. In addition, the Tripartite Signing Ceremony for Strategic Cooperation in the Operation and Management of TCM Health Projects of the Ruilian (Hengqin) Wellness Resort and Awarding Ceremony of the Belgium Welcome Office were also held. The cooperation between GMTCM Park and international institutions, outstanding enterprises and colleges indicates that GMTCM Park has made important progress in creating a favorable atmosphere for the development of the TCM industry, offering good conditions for the development of TCM and healthcare industries and building an international development platform of a higher level and a broader vision for TCM enterprises including those in Macao.
President Xi inspected GMTCM Park in October last year. He mentioned that TCM was the treasure of Chinese culture and that more essence of TCM needed to be explored, in order to propel the integration of the industry, universities and research institutes and promote the industrialization, modernization and internationalization of TCM. The promulgation of the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area this year provides a strong and clear guidance for the development of GMTCM Park and the TCM industry. Promoting the revitalization and development of TCM has been escalated to the national strategic level.
In terms of policies and development opportunities of TCM and healthcare industries, R&D and market development, the Forum organized specific sharing sessions and seminars. In the keynote report segment on 25 September, 15 domestic and foreign experts and scholars in the field of traditional medicine shared the development status of TCM and discussed its international development direction. They exchanged opinions and had an in-depth communication with the government agencies, science and technology institutions, industry associations, investment and financing institutes, enterprises and expert representatives with regard to policy support, development opportunities, technical R&D, market expansion and investment & financing. The Forum aims to promote the integrated development of biomedicine, especially the TCM industry in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, facilitate and deepen international exchange and cooperation, explore resources and development opportunities at home and abroad, and build an advantageous platform for international exchange and cooperation and service trade of domestic and foreign traditional medicine and health industries.
The Forum is held in response to the trend of industrialization and internationalization of TCM and it carries the anticipation of revitalization and internationalization of TCM. It has provided an opportunity of international exchange and cooperation and a platform of integrated development for government agencies, science and technology institutions, industry associations and enterprises. It has become a crucial force for the international traditional medicine industry to march toward an integrated development in a larger scope, with higher standards and at deeper levels.
Information integration to facilitate the transformation of TCM achievements
On 26 September, the Forum will present the Investment and Financing Forum, Business Matching Forum and Scientific and Technological Achievements Sharing Forum, where exchange will be carried out on trade cooperation in traditional medicine, product display, TCM scientific and technological achievements application, etc. It will serve as a platform for project exhibition and resource matching for TCM R&D projects, provide a face-to-face and one-on-one negotiation opportunity for the achievements sharing and experience exchange of the international development of traditional medicine, and build a multilateral and collaborative “supply, demand and service” platform for information distribution and display of TCM R&D achievements in universities and colleges.
The Investment and Financing Forum will also include a keynote report segment and a road show, which will offer project parties and investors an opportunity for full understanding and communication and at the same time set up a platform for project exhibition, resource matching and capital cooperation for enterprises so that they can explore potential cooperation opportunities. The Business Matching Forum will host discussions on international market channel development, market supervision, international trade, etc., and provide product display and business negotiation segments for enterprises. The Scientific and Technological Achievements Sharing Forum will serve as a platform for the exchange and matching between universities, enterprises and investment and financing institutes, since it will gather TCM scientific and technological achievements in universities in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, disclose project information and present representative achievements, which will promote the application of such achievements and industry-university-research institute cooperation.
Demonstration projects of the healthcare industry lead the way
GMTCM Park’s projects in the healthcare industry are currently picking up speed and will be officially initiated next year. The Forum this year will set up an area specially for healthcare exhibition and experience for the first time, focusing on the periodical results of the various projects of GMTCM Park’s healthcare industry, including Ruilian (Hengqin) Wellness Resort, Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Creative Museum and Ola Lotus.
The projects of the healthcare industry adopt the concept of “Chinese medicine + world medicine” and combine the expert resources of Mainland China and modern science and technology services to build a TCM health sanctuary featuring oriental healing. At the same time, traditional Chinese medicine echoes with cultural innovation, business and tourism. Consumers can understand the history of traditional Chinese medicine, experience and enjoy the technology and culture thereof. The construction of the projects will also strive to develop a platform for the exchanges of TCM and health industries connecting the mainland and Macao, and combine the profound TCM culture of Macao to break through the limitations of Macao in TCM technology and talents, which will play an active role in cultivating Macanese enterprises and talents while improving the TCM techniques in Macao. In addition, the development of the project will be combined with the tourism and health care industry in Macao to promote the development of the convention and exhibition industry and the financing industry, and gradually improve the healthcare industry chain, thus creating greater economic benefits and more favorable development conditions for the Macao society.
The area specially dedicated for healthcare exhibition and experience will be open to the public today and tomorrow (25th and 26th). Interested friends are welcome to visit the exhibition at the Florence Hall of The Venetian Macao.
The “Traditional Medicine International Cooperation Forum (Macao, China)” has been successfully held for five consecutive years. It has formed a full-fledged theme of traditional medicine policies, markets, research and development, investment and financing, etc., and plays an important role in the traditional medicine cooperation among Mainland China, Macao, ASEAN, the EU and Portuguese-speaking countries and regions. After years of growth, the Forum has gained a high reputation and influence in the industry. It has become an important platform for exchange and cooperation between domestic and foreign industries, and has contributed to promoting the internationalization of traditional medicine products and services.
The Forum is strongly supported by the Ministry of Health and Social Security of the Republic of Cape Verde, the Ministry of Health of the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, the Permanent Secretariat of Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao), the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute, the Macao Economic Services, the Municipal Affairs Bureau of the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region, the China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export of Medicines & Health Products, the University of Macau, the Macau University of Science and Technology, the Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and other government agencies, industry associations, and scientific research institutes.
