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The Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, today (October 29) signed a renewed co-operation agreement on Chinese medicine with the visiting Commissioner of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Professor Wang Guoqiang, to reaffirm and strengthen exchange and co-operation between the Mainland and Hong Kong in the field of Chinese medicine, and to promote Chinese medicine development in the two places.
Addressing the signing ceremony, Dr Ko said, "Since the signing of the first co-operation agreement between the Food and Health Bureau and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 2007, Hong Kong and the Mainland have established a solid foundation of co-operation and exchange. The renewal of the agreement will help further consolidate and strengthen our exchange and co-operation in various areas of Chinese medicine."
Under the new agreement, the two parties will exchange the latest information on Chinese medicine development, including the formulation of relevant strategies, planning, policies and regulations. The two parties will also initiate exchanges on the use of Chinese medicine in the areas of public health and Chinese medical services, with the aim of strengthening co-operation on aspects such as the mode of medical services, specialties development, and collaboration between Western and Chinese medicine and hospital management. Communication on the information technology management of Chinese medical services will also be established.
As regards Chinese medicine, the two parties will work together to promote the harmonisation of standards of Chinese medicines between Hong Kong and the Mainland, and foster the development of internationalisation and standardisation of Chinese medicine. Exchange and collaboration on research and development (R&D) of Chinese medicines and product accreditation will be established.
On education and R&D of Chinese medicine, besides enhancing co-operation on areas including talent training, qualification education and continuing education, the two parties will also establish a co-operation mechanism to support the introduction of cutting-edge technologies from other countries for carrying out joint studies on key Chinese medicine issues.
Ends/Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Issued at HKT 19:15
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