Pak-China traditional medicines sector possesses broad prospects for cooperation: Chinese Expert

Traditional medicine in China and Pakistan has a broad space of bilateral collaboration in research and development, management and production that would lay a strong foundation of future research.

“Collaboration between Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Unani Tibb (traditional medicine in Pakistan) can set the future research for health,” Prof. Liu Xinmin, Member, Expert Advisory Panel on Traditional Medicine, World Health Organization (WHO) and Co-Director of Sino-Pakistan Cooperation Center on TCM (SPCCTCM) told Gwadar Pro on Sunday.

Prof. Xinmin said, “This is China’s first proprietary Chinese medicine to complete clinical trials guided by drug registration abroad, and it is also the first proprietary Chinese medicine to be verified by foreign scientists on the basis of international evidence-based medicine abroad.” Prof. Xinmin said that the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi is internationally influential in the field of natural product chemistry.

This is the recognition of traditional Chinese medicine in Pakistan and it is also a major booster to promote cooperation in traditional medicine between China and Pakistan.

Pakistani herbal medicines have rich resources in the treatment of respiratory and skin diseases and the products are exported to Central Asia and other countries. Pakistanis are accustomed to taking herbal medicines and are highly receptive to TCM. “In recent years, the industrial scale and research & development level of TCM have been significantly improved. China’s management experience of high-quality herbal medicine resources can be shared with Pakistan.

Pakistan is very active in international and exchange platforms, and Pakistan and China can jointly increase the popularity and influence of traditional medicine in the world,” Prof. Liu suggested. After thousands of years of development, TCM has developed numerous effective treatments for plague. TCM has sustained efficacy in the face of complex and variable viruses, and it is well-suited to cope with the ever-changing COVID-19 virus.