China's export of traditional Chinese medicine “ginseng sold radish price” due to lack of legal status

Chinese medicine has been spread to more than 160 countries and regions in the world. The number of people engaged in medical services for Chinese medicine in the world has reached more than 300,000. In 2009, Chinese medicine exports reached US$1.46 billion. However, up till now, China has not yet registered a Chinese medicine product in the European and American countries as a pharmaceutical company and cannot enter pharmacies and hospitals for sale. A few days ago, proprietary Chinese medicine compound Danshen Dripping Pills passed Phase II clinical trials of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and began phase III clinical studies. This means that Chinese patent medicines have for the first time been recognized by the world's most stringent drug regulatory agencies.

When Chinese medicine goes abroad, where is it difficult? The newspaper will launch successive reports to discuss related issues with a view to arouse the attention of all parties and allow the ethnic medicine to go to the world as soon as possible.

Editor 1 did not catch the international botanical trade "Express"

The export of Chinese patent medicines only achieved a growth rate of less than 30% during the 13 years, and may still be negative after deducting price increases and exchange rate factors. According to statistics from the China Chamber of Commerce for Import & Export of Medicinal Health Products, the import and export volume of Chinese medicines in the first half of the year was US$1.22 billion, an increase of 23.4% over the same period of last year. . Among them, exports amounted to US$910 million, an increase of 26% year-on-year. The export commodities consist mainly of plant extracts and Chinese herbal decoction pieces, which account for 78.8% of the total exports of Chinese medicine. The export volume of proprietary Chinese medicines accounted for only 12.9% of total exports, and the year-on-year increase was also the smallest of all types of goods, at just 17.1%. Exports of Chinese patent medicines are facing more and more difficulties and their growth is relatively weak.

In recent years, there has been an upsurge of “back to earth” in the world, and the trade in botanical drugs continues to increase. According to statistics from the World Health Organization, the global market for plant drugs is currently estimated to be about 60 billion U.S. dollars, but China's exports of traditional Chinese medicines have not taken the express train of the international botanical drug trade. According to customs statistics, in 1996 China's exports of proprietary Chinese medicines amounted to 125 million U.S. dollars, and exports in 2009 amounted to 160 million U.S. dollars. According to industry insiders, the export of Chinese patent medicines has only achieved a growth rate of less than 30% in 13 years, and may have negative growth after deducting price increases and exchange rate factors.

In the world's traditional Chinese medicine market, the share of Japan and South Korea is as high as 80% & mdash; 90%. Seventy-five percent of Japan's production of traditional Chinese medicine preparations is imported from China. After these countries import raw materials for rough processing from China, they are processed into tablets and capsules that meet international standards and are sold at high prices worldwide. The annual export volume of Chinese medicine preparations in China is about 100 million U.S. dollars, accounting for only 3% of the world's total.

Wu Zhendou, the Department of International Cooperation of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, believes that Japan and South Korea lack traditional Chinese medicine resources, and they need to import at least 6 million tons of Chinese medicinal materials every year. However, their pharmaceutical technology is advanced, and Chinese patent medicine exports have increased year by year.

Due to the low prices of raw materials for export, the increase in the export volume of Chinese medicines in China should, to a large extent, be attributed to the increase in export volume. Many companies are competing to sell prices. In 1995, the export price of Ginkgo biloba extract was US$500/kg, but due to domestic vicious competition, the export price has now dropped to about US$25/kg.

According to Fang Shuting, president of the Chinese Medicine Association, the ginseng in the northeast sells carrots. South Korean ginseng does not win by quantity, but wins with high quality and high price, and the average price is 13 times that of China.

In recent years, the growth trend of Chinese patent medicine exports has slowed down, while the export of raw materials such as plant extracts and Chinese herbal medicines, which have low added value, has increased significantly. This means that the amount of consumed plant resources has increased, and some medicinal products have been caused. Plant resources are declining.

Liu Zhanglin, deputy director of the China Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Medicines and Health Products, said that with the widespread dissemination of Chinese medicine in the world and the rapid development of the Chinese medicine industry in China, the problem of Chinese medicine resources in China is becoming more and more prominent, and a large number of Chinese herbal medicines have been exported and randomly collected. Excavation has caused many kinds of Chinese medicinal materials to hardly see wild species, such as wild ginseng has been on the verge of extinction, wild licorice, ephedra, Cistanche, Gastrodia and other medicinal materials are rapidly becoming endangered. Various reasons have led to the weakening of the industry's comparative advantage, shrinking long-term development space, and declining market competitiveness.

2 The lack of real medicine identity in traditional Chinese medicine The national medicine treasure has become the “money shaker” for Westerners. The loss of intellectual property rights for Chinese medicine has been serious. For a long time, it has been very difficult for China’s Chinese medicine products to apply for drug batch numbers abroad, and there is no real pharmaceutical identity. According to Professor Liu Changhua of the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, “The biggest problem with Chinese medicine in foreign trade is that foreign countries have no respect for Chinese medicine. Over the years, our proprietary Chinese medicines have been exported as food and health products, and have been derogated by foreigners. For use, most western countries do not recognize the drug identity of Chinese medicine."

Although China's export volume of plant extracts has continued to increase, China’s share of the world market has not achieved a substantial breakthrough in the past 10 years and has been fluctuating between 4% and 5%. Professor Wan Deguang of School of Pharmacy, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that China's plant extraction technology is insufficient and its added value is low. Most of the major manufacturers' products still remain in the crude extract stage. Exports of raw materials with low processing and low added value account for about 60% of total exports of Chinese medicines.

The lack of awareness of intellectual property protection of Chinese medicine has also hindered the export of Chinese medicine. In recent years, the mysteries of Chinese medicine have been largely lost. Trademarks have frequently been registered in foreign countries. Some old Chinese medicine brands such as "Wang Lao Ji" and "Baocang Maru" have all been maliciously registered in overseas. Liu Zhanglin believes that this has hindered the old Chinese medicine companies from going overseas.

The reporter learned from the State Intellectual Property Office that in recent years, "Chinese medicines" have rushed Chinese medicine patents in China. In 2008, 164 applications were granted and 33 were authorized; in 2009, 153 applications were granted and 60 were authorized. At the same time, these multinational pharmaceutical groups have also applied for Chinese medicine patents in various countries around the world.

Traditional Chinese medicine is a gem of the Chinese nation, but it has now become a western “money tree”. According to statistics, more than 900 Chinese medicines have been patented by foreign companies in China. Koreans have applied for invention patents such as Niuhuangqingxinye, Niuhuang Qingxin microcapsules and Niuhuang Qingxin Pill new prescription composition from the patent offices of various countries in the world since April 1992. They have seized the domestic and foreign markets of Tong Ren Tang with new dosage forms and new process patents. . The annual output value of Niuhuangqingxinye only reaches 70 million US dollars. Japan has developed the "Anti-cold & Miscellaneous Diseases" gratuitously, and the 210 ancient squares in the "Jin Yeo Yao Liao Fang" have made Japan's "Kampong Formulation" flourish. Japan's "Heart of Pills" is developed on the basis of China's "Lishen Pill" with annual sales of hundreds of millions of dollars.

At present, this kind of "back-selling Chinese medicine" accounts for one-third of China's traditional Chinese medicine market. Every year, China uses more than 100 million U.S. dollars to import "Chinese medicine" from Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, and Europe. Western countries have used their technological and financial advantages to begin applying new theories and methods to study Chinese medicine. Some developed countries rely on their technological superiority to vigorously tap and develop traditional Chinese medicine. For example, there are 146 Chinese medicine research institutions in the United States, and France has nearly one hundred Chinese medicine or plant medicine factories.

Liu Changhua believes that the issue of intellectual property rights of Chinese medicine is a very weak link in China's traditional Chinese medicine industry chain. The loss of Chinese intellectual property rights is serious and the Chinese medicine industry is facing a huge crisis.

3 Promoting the registration of Chinese medicine abroad is the key Chinese medicine can only reflect its due value if it is recognized by the world in the form of “medicine”. “Upgrading from plant extracts to botanicals may be one of the roads for the internationalization of Chinese medicine in China.” Deguang pointed out that some of China's high-end extracts are exported to the European and American markets in large quantities, and they have been made into pharmaceutical preparations by pharmaceutical companies in these countries, and then sold to other countries, including China, for a large amount of profits. From this point of view, Chinese medicine can only be reflected in its due value if it is recognized by the world in the form of “medicine”.

“For a long time, the production and management of Chinese herbal medicines and Chinese herbal medicines including exports have become somewhat disorderly, and the problems of many, small, scattered, and chaotic have been serious.” Liu Zhanglin stated that as the industry organization in the field of import and export of Chinese medicine and health products, the Medical Insurance Association will take the lead. The establishment of a branch of traditional Chinese medicine decoction will help standardize the order of import and export in the industry and improve the international status of Chinese medicine.

Liu Changhua believes that the export standards of Chinese medicine should not be determined by foreigners. We should establish our own standards and strive for the initiative in international trade. The state has already started related strategic issues to study how to effectively protect and rationally use Chinese medicine as a whole, including traditional Chinese medicine resources and TCM prescriptions. In a sense, this will play an important role in reversing the unfavorable situation of Chinese medicine exports subject to human beings.

Fang Shuting believes that the State Council has clearly stated in the "Several Opinions on Supporting and Promoting the Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine" to optimize the export structure of Chinese medicine products, increase the added value of traditional Chinese medicine export products, and support traditional Chinese medicine enterprises in opening up international markets. The relevant government agencies should also strengthen the awareness of intellectual property rights protection of Chinese medicine, truly protect Chinese medicine, and effectively promote the development and innovation of international scientific and technological cooperation in Chinese medicine.

According to Yan Xijun, chairman of the Tasly Group, domestic Chinese medicine should stand firm in the world and promoting foreign registration is the key. The registration of Chinese medicines in foreign countries is a shortcut to entering the international market.

It is understood that this year, the number of countries in the world that have officially recognized the legal status of Chinese medicine has risen to 67. China and the relevant government departments of these countries have signed cooperation agreements on Chinese medicine. Chinese medicines exported to these countries will no longer be used as health foods, but will be accepted for approval as medicines.

Cao Hongxin, president of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, believes that the name is correct. After the name of Chinese medicine, the path of internationalization of Chinese medicine will certainly be smoother. The Chinese medicine industry is an industry with unique characteristics and advantages in China. It is also an industry in which China has the potential to gain competitive advantage in the international market.