World Conference on Traditional Medicine 2024 to be held in Beijing

The World Conference on Traditional Medicine 2024 will be held in Beijing from Dec 3 to 4, aiming to enhance international dialogues and collaboration of traditional medicine and advance its balanced development across the globe, said Chinese officials at a news conference on Thursday.

The event, set to take place at the China National Convention Center in Beijing, will be jointly hosted by the People's Government of Beijing Municipality, the National Health Commission, the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, in collaboration with the World Health Organization.

Themed "Diversity, Inheritance, Innovation: Traditional Medicine for all", the conference will see key guests and prominent, influential traditional medicine experts to deliver keynote speeches at the plenary session, said Qin Huaijin, deputy director of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

A series of parallel forums focusing on various themes including scientific research on traditional medicine, integration of traditional and modern medicine, clinical and experimental acupuncture research, traditional medicine education, digital and Intelligent traditional medicine will also be held, he said.

Qin added that the event is expected to bring together 1,200 attendees, including health ministers, international organization representatives, ambassadors to China as well as related experts, entrepreneurs and managers.

The international community is aspiring for deeper integration of modern and traditional medicine to better tackle cardiovascular diseases, cancer and other major chronic diseases, as well as emerging and acute infectious diseases, according to Qin.

"Traditional medicine, represented by traditional Chinese medicine, is gaining recognition from an increasing number of countries and regions for its effectiveness, advantages, characteristics and value in improving public health, preventing and treating chronic and infectious diseases," he added.

Wu Zhendou, head of the administration's international cooperation department, said that the International Organization for Standardization/Technical Committee for Traditional Chinese Medicine (ISO/TC 249) has formulated 113 international standards on TCM.

He added that China has signed cooperation agreements with more than 40 foreign authorities and international organizations, and established 30 high-quality overseas centers for TCM in countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.

A total of 113 WHO member countries now officially recognize the use of acupuncture, said Wu.

Fang Biling contributed to the story.