Chinese Medicine and Herbs Abroad
Bulgaria
Bulgarians have long honored nurturing the natural body by natural means. More and more recognize the power of Chinese herbs. In pharmacies, food stores, and cosmetic shops one finds many Chinese TCM health products: royal jelly, slimming tea, pearl cream, Dabao hair tonic, ginseng preparations, magnetic acupressure boxes, and so on. Many large cities have Chinese traditional-medicine clinics. One opinion poll showed 93–97% of Bulgarians interested in Chinese medicine and willing to receive treatment. Some call Chinese pills gods' miracle medicine; a steady stream of patients seek TCM acupuncture for slimming and smoking cessation.
Some Chinese medicines for fitness, beauty, nourishing yin and supplementing the kidney, and hair regrowth — ginseng-and-royal-jelly products, Dabao hair tonic, slimming cream, jiaweishen, and health cosmetics with natural renshen and huangqi — have opened the market. Imported patent medicines must be tested by the health authority and pass three to six months of hospital clinical trial before registration; this takes long and costs much. Still, the demand for natural medicines is rising in Bulgaria, and seizing the chance to open the Bulgarian market would also help open the markets of the Balkans, Central and Western Europe, Central Asia, and Russia.
Thailand
Thailand has a population of about 80 million and is a world center for tropical-disease studies; Chinese medicine plays a large role in Thai health care.
In the Song and Yuan dynasties, Thai envoys presented tribute of muxiang, sappanwood, ivory, zicao, huhuanglian, and other herbs. In the Ming, repeated tributes of rhinoceros horn, bingpian, rosewood, and dozens of other herbs followed. The Qing government granted preferential policies to Thai herb merchants.
After formal Sino-Thai diplomatic relations, Thailand repealed the Regulations Forbidding Trade with China. The Senate passed a bill formally approving the use of Chinese herbs; this legal recognition has helped TCM's development in Thailand.
In Thailand, Chinese medicine falls under the Ministry of Public Health; the pharmaceutical regulator is the FDA, also under the Ministry.
China's advanced medical equipment is highly regarded; 101 Hair-Regrowth Essence and its product line are very welcome. Classic TCM books are popular; translated TCM titles are often sold out.
In Thailand TCM is respected. Some 5,000 practitioners hold licenses; 60% of Thais prefer to see a traditional doctor. Annual demand runs to over 200 kinds of Chinese herbs, worth US$50 million. Thailand's imports of Chinese herbs and patent medicines rank just below Singapore and Malaysia and are rising year by year. Joint factories in Thailand — drawing on local herb resources, with low freight and cost, no restrictions, and the ability to re-export to other Southeast Asian countries — are highly advantageous.
Korea
In Korea, both Eastern and Western medicine are covered by health insurance: 56 classical-formula preparations and 68 single-formula preparations are in the insurance scheme.
Chinese herbs have long been used in Korean medicine; herb factories have progressively adopted GMS standards for Chinese-medicine preparations. The Korean Chinese-herb market exceeds US$1 billion. Herbs are mainly imported from China; Korean imports rank just below Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and the United States.
Korea places heavy weight on exporting its own Korean ginseng, treating it as a flagship product that wins on brand and price. Korea imports few patent medicines but exports many — chiefly Niuhuang Qingxin Wan and Korean-ginseng preparations.
Seoul has a Chinese-herb street nearly two kilometers long, with over 500 herb shops and TCM clinics carrying a full range of varieties. Koreans invest readily in health, value Chinese herbs, and tonify with shashen, gouqizi, danggui, health teas, and huangqi; they also love green tea.
To standardize the Chinese-herb market, the Korean government has issued laws and customs apply strict checks to herb imports — raising testing standards and increasing the share inspected. Thirty-six herbs must be packaged as required, and the packaging must be performed by qualified Korean pharmaceutical companies and bear the herb name, place of origin, weight, and manufacturer. Of those 36, twenty-two are scarce or absent in Korea and must be imported, with import largely unrestricted: gegen, juhua, gancao, guizhi, guipi, huoxiang, lujiao, lurong, taoren, mahuang, banxia, fuling, fuzi, suanzaoren, niuhuang, rougui, zhuling, qinpi, xingren, huanglian, huangbai, houpo. Fourteen are domestically produced and rarely imported: ganjiang, gouqi, jiegeng, danggui, shanzhuyu, shanyao, shudihuang, chaihu, shenqu, shaoyao, chuanxiong, xiangfuzi, huangqin, huangqi. The Korean government will further widen the list of herbs that must be packaged, gradually reaching all medicines.
(Excerpted from China Reform News, June 17, 2000)