China has experienced high-speed development in finished traditional Chinese medicine sector in recent years with total output value hitting US $3.7 billion in 1996, Mr. Zhang Wenkang, viceminister of MOH and head of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicines, told the recent TCM development conference in Beijing.

Up to now, 13 out of the top 50 TCM producers have been listed publicly on Chinese domestic stock exchanges. There are 14 state-owned TCM companies, each achieving annual sales of US $24 million in 1996. A total of 14 Chinese finished TCM producers have passed the GMP certification conducted by the Australian and German pharmaceutical administrations.

The government encourages the establishment of large-scale TCM production enterprises by mergers and acquisitions. Five companies are expected to reach annual sales of RMB 2-3 billion (US $240-360 million) each by the year 2000. The government aims to form a TCM multinational company with sales of more than US $1 billion by the year 2010.

[Yuquan W. China Medipharm Insights. April 8, 1998.]

Article copyright American Botanical Council.

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By Peter Landes