Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has played a vital role in safeguarding the health of the Chinese people who make up one fourth of the world's population, according to the State Administration of TCM.
A national survey of some 80,000 residents show that 44 percent of Chinese prefer TCM therapy or the treatment integrated with Western medicine.
There are more than 2,800 hospitals and more clinics specializing in traditional medicine nationwide, as well as some 510,000 medical professionals who received 150 million outpatient last year and provided hospitalization service to 2.87 million people.
Medical professionals also undertake the task of disease prevention during disaster relief, health promotion, health care in urban communities and health education.
In the vast rural areas, the home to over 800 million Chinese, some 50,000 township hospitals and 730,000 village clinics using TCM therapies provide one third of outpatient services and one fourth of hospital treatments. More than half of village doctors use herbal medicines while prescribing chemical drugs.
So far, the amount of TCM medicine producers has surpassed 1, 000, or one sixth of the country's total pharmaceutical firms, which produce more than 8,000 kinds of drugs each year.
Some major breakthroughs have been made by Chinese researchers in the treatment of health-threatening diseases, including cardio and cerebral vascular illnesses, cancer, and hepatitis through TCM therapy and the integrated treatment of the TCM and the western medicine.