Benson Chan, a 23-year-old sales engineer in Hong Kong, is a recent convert to Chinese medicine.
　　After a friend introduced Chan to a Chinese herbal doctor and the medicines prescribed to him proved effective, he became convinced that traditional is best.

"I just feel that Chinese herbal medicine is more suitable for me," he said. "I don't get any side effect taking Chinese herbal medicine."

Chan is not alone. Growing public acceptance of traditional Chinese medicine should provide an important impetus to the government's effort in establishing Hong Kong as a herbal medicine centre.

The Japanese market alone imports through Hong Kong an average of US$840 million of Chinese herbal medicine a year.

The government set up the Hong Kong Jockey Club Institute of Chinese Medicine (HKJCICM) two years ago. In his latest policy address, Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa vowed to further develop the institute as a centre of "evidence-based" Chinese medicine.

The industry has been further boosted by official recognition of the practitioners of Chinese medicine.

And another spur will come, in the first quarter of this year, with the opening of a government-funded Chinese medicine clinic - a major attempt to introduce Chinese medicine into the public health care system.

Dr. Edmund Lee, executive director of HKJCICM, said he was confident about the future of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong.

"I think the development of Chinese medicine could give Hong Kong's economy a boost if both government and the industry will work well together," Dr. Lee said.

"Many Hong Kong enterprises are interested in developing the Chinese medicine market," he said.

Dr. Lee said Chinese medicine was well accepted among the public long before the government first mentioned its intention to promote the field in Tung's 1998 policy address. He said many universities had been doing research on Chinese medicine for a long time.

"According to government statistics in 1999, 22 per cent of total out-patient consultations were provided by Chinese medicine practitioners," Dr. Lee said. "The percentage is not a small one, because it is a tradition that Chinese people take Chinese medicine."

Che Chun-tao, director of the School of Chinese Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, agreed that Chinese medicine was widely accepted by the public now and that the government's intention to develop Chinese medicine was a correct move.

"The development of Chinese medicine has always been limited, partly because it was never included in the public health care system," Che said.

The efforts of government in promoting Chinese medicine would help raise the standard of the industry enabling it to expand into the world market, Che added.

Dr. Lee of HKJCICM said the development of the industry in Hong Kong was just at the beginning stage. Hong Kong, so far, has formed a framework for Chinese medicine and practitioner regulations.

The Chinese Medicine Ordinance was enacted. Under the ordinance, the Chinese Medicine Council was established. The first batch of listed Chinese medicine practitioners was registered and it is expected that the subsidiary legislation for the regulation of Chinese medicine will soon be released.

The HKJCICM research and development projects, or special activities, are funded with a pledged donation of HK$500 million (US$64 million) by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. The government finances the operation cost.

The institute positions itself as a strategic platform in advancing the development of Chinese medicine industry. It is now undergoing a few projects and it hopes to focus more on strategies development and to work more with the mainland this year.

The institute has signed a letter of intent with the National Centre of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

From ChinaDaily.com.cn