Regulation on Promoting the Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Hainan Free Trade Port(hereinafter referred to as the Regulation)

Adopted on September 30, 2026, the Regulation shall come into force on November 1, 2026. This information was obtained by reporters from Hainan Daily All Media from relevant authorities.

The Regulation consists of nine chapters: General Provisions, Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Services, Protection and Industrial Development of Chinese Medicinal Materials, Promotion of Ethnic Medicine Development, Talent Training and Scientific & Technological Support, Inheritance, Innovation and Cultural Communication of TCM, Opening-up and International Cooperation of TCM, Safeguard Measures, and Supplementary Provisions.

It specifies that the Regulation applies to the inheritance, innovation, development, supervision and administration of TCM undertakings within the Hainan Free Trade Port. The development of TCM shall follow the laws governing TCM development, adopt modern science and technology, inherit the essence while upholding integrity and pursuing innovation, attach equal importance to both TCM and Western medicine, promote the integration of TCM and Western medicine, and give full play to the vital role of TCM in disease prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, health preservation and healthcare, as well as emergency response to public health incidents.

The Regulation stipulates that people’s governments at or above the county level shall establish and improve the TCM service system. Administrative regions at or above the county level shall set up TCM medical institutions of appropriate scale. For example, government-run general hospitals, maternal and child health institutions and qualified specialized hospitals shall establish TCM departments and Chinese herbal pharmacies; community health service centers and township health centers shall build comprehensive TCM service zones. Efforts shall be made to develop TCM preventive treatment of diseases, characteristic TCM rehabilitation and TCM health and elderly care services, and multiple measures shall be adopted to improve the TCM service capacity of grassroots medical and health institutions.

It also clarifies that TCM practitioners and nursing staff engaged in TCM services with valid overseas professional qualifications may apply for practice in medical institutions within the Hainan Free Trade Port. TCM medical institutions are encouraged to apply modern information technologies to build smart TCM medical institutions, and lawfully provide TCM telemedicine, internet diagnosis and treatment, intelligent auxiliary diagnosis and treatment and other services.

The Regulation points out that people’s governments at or above the county level shall incorporate TCM services into the disease prevention and control system, intervention measures for public health problems seriously endangering public health, and policy measures for infectious disease prevention and treatment. Relying on local TCM resources and natural and cultural resources, governments shall optimize the layout of the TCM health and wellness industry, boost the integration of TCM with tourism, health management and other business forms, and develop TCM health and wellness tourism routes and big health products. Medical institutions are supported to provide multi-level and diversified TCM services in various forms, including characteristic TCM diagnosis and treatment, health preservation, geriatric disease prevention and treatment, medicinal diet conditioning, skincare and beauty, and promote the standardized application of appropriate TCM technologies in health and wellness scenarios.

In terms of the industrial development of TCM, the Regulation states that people’s governments at or above the county level and their relevant departments shall support Chinese medicinal enterprises in intelligent and digital production transformation, advance the upgrading of products such as prepared slices of Chinese crude drugs, proprietary Chinese medicines and formula granules of Chinese medicinal materials, foster specialized, sophisticated, unique and innovative enterprises, promote the integrated development of breeding, cultivation and promotion for Chinese medicinal enterprises, and build industrial clusters. It encourages research and development of new products using Chinese medicinal materials as raw materials, such as health food, food for special medical purposes and functional cosmetics. Support shall be given to the protection, research, development and utilization of resources including southern medicinal herbs, ethnic medicines and marine medicines, to explore and leverage the value and advantages of Li and Miao ethnic medicines, facilitate their inheritance and innovative development, and build brand names of genuine regional medicinal materials represented as Alpinia oxyphylla, pepper, agarwood and dalbergia odorifera.

The Regulation also requires enhanced training for grassroots medical staff on basic TCM knowledge and skills. Medical institutions, institutions of higher education, scientific research institutes and enterprises are encouraged to introduce high-level talents in the TCM sector. Recognized introduced talents shall enjoy corresponding benefits for high-level talents of the Hainan Free Trade Port in accordance with provisions.

In addition, the Regulation supports and encourages eligible medical institutions to set up international TCM medical departments to provide TCM medical services for overseas individuals. Social forces are encouraged to establish TCM service institutions targeting overseas people. TCM medical institutions and medical consortia are encouraged to cooperate with commercial insurance institutions to innovate payment models for cross-border TCM medical and health services, expand the coverage of direct settlement by commercial insurance, and deepen international cooperation.

Source: Hainan Daily Client