On July 4, MOST, jointly with the Ministry of Public Health and the State Administration of TCM（TCM）, issued the Outline of International S&T Cooperation Plan for TCM and officially kicked off the International S&T Cooperation Program for TCM. As the first international big science research program initiated and formulated by the Chinese Government, this program will be devoted to building a worldwide international S&T cooperation network for TCMand boosting the modernization of TCM.
In order to carry forward the process of modernization and internationalization of TCM, MOST formulated the Outline of International S&T Cooperation Plan for TCM on the basis of the Outline of National Medium- and Long-term S&T Development Plan (2006－2020) and proposed to push forward in-depth development of international S&T cooperation for TCM and let all humanity share the traditional Chinese medical civilization by adhering to the guiding principle of "rooted in originality, oriented to human health, equal stress on heritage and innovation, and mutual benefit in win-win cooperation".
In the Outline of International S&T Cooperation Plan for TCM, it is stated that in order to make the best of global S&T resources, settle the key S&T issues in modernization of TCM and facilitate the access of world traditional medicine represented by TCM to the international mainstream markets of medicine and health care, China will organize the implementation of the International S&T Cooperation Program for TCM.
The overall objectives of this program are to achieve the following through international cooperation: deepen awareness of the connotation of TCM, enrich and develop the theory of TCM and boost the development of medical sciences; improve the capacity of TCM and other traditional medicine for serving human health, facilitate the access of TCM to international mainstream markets of medicine and health care and effectively cut down the socioeconomic cost for maintaining human health; facilitate the complementation and perfection of Chinese and Western medical systems and form a new medical care mode and service system; promote the fusion of oriental and occidental cultures so that the concepts of medical treatment, rehabilitation and health care endowed with both modern humane ideology and China's traditional cultural connotations are understood and accepted by the international community and TCM will benefit the health undertaking of all humanity.
It is learnt that MOST will input a hundred million Yuan this year to kick off the first batch of 50 international S&T cooperation projects of this program jointly with foreign countries. These projects focus on R&D of medicines for treating major diseases, including the series of arteannuin medicines for curing malaria, TCM used for drug rehabilitation and TCM for treatment of tumor and AIDS.
In order to ensure the implementation of this program, MOST will adopt the following concrete measures in organization & management: design the organizational structure of this program, establish the international council and initiate the multilateral cooperation mechanism; invite well-known specialists of TCM and relevant fields on a global basis to constitute the international expert committee and propose the priority fields, key contents and cooperation modes of the program; establish a special fund to absorb research funds of foreign governments and funds of transnational enterprises into international S&T cooperation for traditional Chinese medicine; establish policies for the promotion of international S&T cooperation; set up a mechanism for dialog and cooperation with such international organizations as the World Health Organization.
