Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau met a delegation led by National Health Commission Party Group Member & Party Secretary of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (NATCM) Prof Yu Yanhong today to discuss issues relevant to promoting the development of Chinese medicine (CM).
 
In March, Prof Lo led a delegation to Beijing to call on the NATCM and meet Prof Yu given that the Health Bureau’s work was recognised and supported. Prof Lo said today's meeting has enabled them to reinforce their discussion and joint efforts in taking forward the implementation of the work for the development of CM in the future.
 
He noted that in particular, the NATCM provides great support for the development of Hong Kong's Chinese Medicine Hospital (CMH), standard-setting for CM in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and exchanges of CM professionals.
 
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will continue to maintain close contact with stakeholders in the Mainland and around the world, in a bid to deepen exchanges and co-operation with various places in the field of CM on the principle of complementarity and mutual benefits, Prof Lo added.
 
It will also leverage Hong Kong's traditional strengths in CM and give full play to the city's important role as the country's gateway to international markets to promote the inheritance, innovation and high-quality development of CM with its utmost effort.
 
Prof Lo stressed that the Hong Kong SAR Government is committed to working together to build a healthy Hong Kong for integration into the national strategy of a healthy China.
 
The NATCM delegation arrived in Hong Kong yesterday for a four-day visit. During their stay, the delegates will meet stakeholders of the CM sector and relevant organisations, listen to reports from the Hospital Authority on the GBA CM Visiting Scholars Programme and integrated Chinese-Western medicine co-operation, and visit a hospital ward to have a better grasp of the latest developments.
 
The delegation will also visit the construction site of the CMH and the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute as well as the School of CM of a university. In addition, on behalf of the National Health Commission, Prof Yu will attend the Hospital Authority Convention and the Asia Summit on Global Health, which are scheduled to be held in the next few days.