China and France will enhance cooperation in traditional
medicine next year, the State Administration of Traditional Chinese
Medicine (SATCM) has said.
An agreement to the effect will be signed at the beginning of
next year the press office of SATCM said.
SATCM head She Jing and French Foreign Minister Philippe
Douste-Blazy discussed the agreement on the phone earlier this
week.
Douste-Blazy said a number of French institutes had rich
experiences in the study of herbs and the making of traditional
medicine. He hoped that the two countries would cooperate in the
commercial production of traditional medicine.
The French minister said he would send his adviser on Asian
affairs to China in mid-December to work on the agreement.
In October, experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and
French universities and government departments attended a
conference in Paris, where they discussed major public health
issues, drug registration and the protection of intellectual
property rights for traditional Chinese medicine.
Before the conference, Douste-Blazy met with State Councilor
Chen Zhili to discuss the cooperation.
(Xinhua News Agency December 7, 2006)
