Hong Kong Department of Health: Develop Hong Kong into a gateway for the internationalization of traditional Chinese medicine and herbal medicine.

At the 6th Greater Bay Area Traditional Chinese Medicine Inheritance Innovation and Development Conference, Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Gabriel Leung, stated that there have been many new developments in traditional Chinese medicine in Hong Kong in the past year. Within Hong Kong's medical system that integrates pure Chinese medicine and a combination of Chinese and Western medicine, traditional Chinese medicine and Chinese-Western medicine have fully utilized the advantages of collaboration. At the same time, the permanent building of the Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Testing Center is set to commence phased services by the end of 2025. The Testing Center will gather resources and work with mainland Chinese medicine institutions to establish internationally recognized quality standards for Chinese herbal products, promote the standardization and internationalization of Chinese medicine with the goal of developing Hong Kong into an international hub for traditional Chinese medicine. The Hong Kong government has currently established Chinese medicine clinics and research centers in all 18 districts of the city to provide government-funded outpatient Chinese medicine services to the public. Collaborative services between Chinese and Western medicine have also seen breakthrough developments, with the number of public hospitals participating in such services increasing from eight to 26, and designated service points increasing from eight to 53. These services are provided to selected patient groups, including stroke, musculoskeletal pain, cancer palliative care, and inpatient cancer treatment. In terms of inpatient Chinese medicine services, the construction of Hong Kong's first Chinese medicine hospital is underway and is expected to be completed and operational by the end of 2025. The Chinese medicine hospital will provide citizens with more comprehensive second and third-tier medical services focusing on Chinese medicine and serve as an important collaboration platform for medical services, research, and talent development in Chinese medicine with the mainland, especially in the Greater Bay Area, and internationally. In March of this year, the Hong Kong Department of Health's Government Chinese Medicine Testing Center officially launched the "Digital Chinese Medicine Specimen Gallery" website for public, industry, and international research institution use. This marks an important step by the Hong Kong government in advancing the innovative application of Chinese medicine data resources and promoting the innovation and development of Chinese medicine inheritance. The Hong Kong government is establishing the Greater Bay Area International Clinical Trials Institute at the Hong Kong Park within the Heyuan-Shenzhen Science and Innovation Cooperation Zone, utilizing the development positioning of the Heyuan area in science and innovation and institutional innovation, as well as related cross-border facilitation measures to encourage enterprises and institutions to conduct clinical trials, accelerate the transformation of research results, promote integrated development, leverage the advantages of Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area, and jointly build a highland of biomedical research and innovation. On the other hand, Hong Kong will explore the application of big data to promote international research cooperation on the interaction between Chinese and Western medicine, discover more clinically significant evidence, and promote the internationalization of Chinese medicine. In terms of the top-level design of traditional Chinese medicine development, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has officially appointed a Commissioner for the Development of Chinese Medicine, responsible for comprehensively coordinating the development of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong at the policy level. One of the commissioner's important tasks is to work together with the Chinese medicine industry to formulate a "Chinese Medicine Development Blueprint" for the overall development and long-term planning of traditional Chinese medicine in Hong Kong, turning Hong Kong into an international hub for Chinese medicine and further enhancing cooperation and exchanges between Hong Kong, the mainland, and international communities in traditional Chinese medicine to better integrate Hong Kong into the construction of the Greater Bay Area.