Wang Guangji, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, suggested that China should explore ways to explain traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) through modern medicine and biotechnology, during an interview with China.org.cn on Tuesday in Beijing.

Wang Guangji, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a deputy to the National People's Congress [Photo by Guo Yiming / China.org.cn]

As former vice president of China Pharmaceutical University and a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), Dr. Wang told the reporter that this initiative should be included into the 13th Five Year Plan, which outlines China's development strategy during the next 5 years, on the sidelines of the annual sessions of China's top legislature and political advisory body.

When Tu Youyou won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discoveries concerning a novel Malaria therapy, artemisinin, TCM once again gained global attention.

Drawn from valuable research experiences in developing artemisinin, the Nobel laureate believes that "Chinese medicine and pharmacology are great treasures that should be explored and raised to a higher level."

Despite Tu's success, the scientific effects and benefits of TCM are still being debated in the western world, which, in Dr. Wang's words, is caused by lack of understanding.

"Through thousands of years of clinical trials, TCM has already proved itself to be effective in curing many kinds of diseases," said the deputy who specializes in western medicine. "But important terms like Yin (substance) and Yang (energy), whose balance are essential for harmonious operation of the body, according to traditional Chinese medicine, would hardly be accepted by foreigners."

Wang noted we should try to explain and interpret TCM theory through existing concepts in western medicine, such as the adjustment of the neurological, endocrine and immune systems, as he cited a traditional Chinese medical inscription that cures cardiovascular diseases and prevents Alzheimer's through reducing the concentration of kynurenine, a procedure that might be well accepted in modern medicine.

This is what Wang called "using western-accepted scientific statistics to explain traditional Chinese medicine theory."

He hoped that the government would support this initiative in order to modernize and globalize TCM.

Promoting traditional Chinese medicine is on the agenda of Premier Li Keqiang's Government Work Report and the draft outline of the 13th Five Year Plan, which includes protecting Chinese medicine resources, setting up a database for TCM ancient texts as well as speeding up research and development of new therapies.